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[Viralization]
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| Chiba Prefecture, at a certain house… |
…
In an, uh, "extravagantly" decorated room, a girl with both pink skin and hair—complete with small hook-shaped horns and black eyes with yellow irises—let out a loud sigh as she dropped her school bag beside the bed and threw herself face-first onto it, groaning.
She was none other than Mina Ashido, one of the future 1-A students.
"Final exams, final exams… what a pain. Can't they just make my last year easier? Why do they have to make it hard until the end?!"
She kicked and thrashed like a child in the middle of a tantrum.
Eventually, though, she ran out of energy and exhaled one last dramatic sigh.
Then she grabbed her phone, diving into the usual scrolling session to decompress for a bit.
Videos of all kinds passed before her eyes—fashion, dance collabs, random health and training tips, a few memes. The usual.
Minutes passed, but then, just as she reached what she decided would be the last short of the day before finally getting up to do something productive, a very peculiar video appeared.
It looked like a concert, or maybe a festival. It was hard to tell.
The footage was filmed from the crowd, so the angle wasn't exactly clear, and neither was the quality.
Mina paused on it for a moment. The show happening onstage was surprisingly eye-catching. Whoever was in charge of the lighting and special effects had gone all out.
'And the song is oddly catchy, too.' She thought, bobbing her head faintly at the rhythm. However, the distance of the one recording video lowered the quality a bit.
But aside from that, it wasn't anything special. So after a few seconds, she hovered her thumb over the screen, ready to close the app and then turn off her phone.
But then, something caught her eye.
The band onstage—despite their pretty plain outfits—suddenly started breakdancing.
Her thumb froze mid-movement. Breakdancing was her territory, after all, and she was quite good at it—in her very humble opinion, at least.
So, feeling her curiosity flourishing all over again, her gaze sharpened as she watched over their movements more carefully. Analyzing the performance with a critical eye.
'They are good.' She hummed, massaging her chin like an old master.
Of course, not mind-blowing good, just pretty good. She had seen amazing performances online that could have only been accomplished by Breakdancing Gods who had descended on Earth to shock the world.
This one, on the other hand, remained at the level of mere mortals. That didn't take away the skill the band had. They looked like they had been doing it for a year already, and it showed in their movements.
But of course, if that had been all there was to see, the video's destiny was to be left unfinished anyway.
However, as soon as she had been about to close the app again, the band's qualification shot from "pretty good" to "what the heck?!" levels.
They began playing their instruments while breakdancing. Mina's eyes bulged like platters at the sight.
'How the heck are they pulling that off?' She screamed internally.
After a bit, though, she guessed it must have been thanks to one of the members' Quirks.
But just as the novelty was starting to fade—impressive as it still was—the band member at the front, who had until then simply been playing normally, suddenly stepped up his game.
"Oh?... OH?!"
He began to float.
No, not only that.
Float, and move, spin, and kick around in ways she could hardly believe—all while the guitar in his hands surged into a fierce solo that took over the entire song.
Without realising it, she found herself completely absorbed.
And, after a few seconds, curiosity got the better of her.
She dove into the comments to figure out who this performer was.
And it didn't take long.
"Rockinesis—what kind of name is that…?"
…
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| In the same city, somewhere else… |
…
—Bam!—
—Thud!—
—Whack!—
A long black-haired boy with red eyes hammered his fists against a sandbag, each strike fueled by exhaustion and pain.
This was none other than Kirishima—future manliness-seeking member of U.A.'s Class 1-A.
After about five minutes, he finally stopped. Drenched in sweat and panting heavily, he stared down at his fists with a wry expression.
"Becoming a hero… will I really be able to do it with just this Quirk?"
He clenched his fist, frustration twisting his face.
But then he shook his head, stepped back, and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off. Once dry, he sat on his bed with a dejected sigh and picked up his phone, scrolling through social media to relax for a moment before returning to training or studying.
He didn't plan on resting long, as it was just a breather.
Maybe he'd see one or two at most, before going back into action.
But coincidentally, the first video that popped up startled him.
It was a concert—several guys with the exact same appearance performing a song while pulling off insane breakdance moves that defied logic.
He wasn't very familiar with nor particularly interested in music. He was just a casual consumer who enjoyed whatever sounded good, but who never committed to any band. So, besides some surprise at the surreal choreography and the slight nod he gave at the muffled song, the video didn't strike him as anything too special.
At least, not until the main guy at the front began floating while dancing in the air, the song intensifying along with his rise.
There was something about the music… something about the way he moved… something about the confidence he radiated…
It was… It was—
"SO MANLY."
…
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| At Tokyo, home of the hero Ingenium |
…
"Yo, Tenya, come see this."
Tensei Ida—better known as the hero Ingenium—called out from the living room couch, eyes glued to the TV.
"What is it, Tensei-niisan?" Tenya Ida stood up from the dining table, where several textbooks were spread out, probably from a studying spree. He walked over while adjusting his glasses, glancing between his brother and the television.
"I was wondering why some of my colleagues were so hectic yesterday. Turns out something big happened at Tokyo's musical festival last night. Look!"
Tenya turned to the screen, squinting as he read the headline:
{Festival taken hostage! Vigilante crashes show, seizes the stage, and forces multiple heroes back while performing an original song.}
Clips of Rockinesis performing and the crowd reacting from multiple angles played across the screen, making the younger Ida's eyebrows sink into a deep frown.
The reporter began explaining the vigilante's identity in detail—listing his previous feats and crimes—and then showed testimonies from the crowd… which were surprisingly positive for people who had technically been victims.
Tenya's glasses shone with intellectualism as he adjusted them and said sharply. "Vigilantism is a dangerous and irresponsible activity. I hope they catch him quickly,"
Tensei let out a wry smile. "You're always so serious. I actually liked the song."
"Niisan, we must not encourage that kind of behaviour!"
"Yeah, yeah."
…
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| Mie Prefecture |
…
Ochako Uraraka gripped her head in frustration, groaning loudly as she sat at her desk. A bunch of notebooks lay sprawled open in front of her.
"Aaah! I'll become a hero for sure. Just you wait, U.A. I'm just getting started!"
With that newfound determination, she tightened her grip on her pencil and prepared to keep studying.
"Ochako, dinner is ready!"
—Slam!—
Only for her face to collapse onto the desk the next second.
"Yesss…"
Ultimately, however, she lifted her head back up and stood, leaving her room not long after.
A few minutes later, she sat with her parents at the dining table, eating some very traditional Japanese dishes.
Rice with… something, idk.
As they ate, their eyes occasionally drifted to the TV in the corner of the room, which was playing the latest news: hero scandals—including the most recent one about some "Super Monkey" guy caught going on dates with another heroine during work hours—crime reports, weather forecasts, and whatever else counted as important nowadays.
And among them—
"A festival was taken hostage by a vigilante? That's no longer a vigilante, that's a villain!" Uraraka's father muttered with a frown as he brought more rice into his mouth with his chopsticks.
"Oh my. I hope those people were okay," her mother added, worry in her voice.
Ochako didn't say anything. She simply watched in silence… until the interviews with the "victims" began playing.
"…They… seem to be having fun?"
…
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| Saitama Prefecture, in a room that was a bit of a mess… |
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"This guy did what now?!" A teenager with blond, sharp hair marked by a thunder symbol in black, shouted as he stared at his phone in shock, gaping at the images of a very familiar vigilante delivering the performance of the century.
He was entranced for the whole song, his head bobbing without him noticing.
By the time the song ended, he wiped the single tear rolling down his cheek.
"That was damn beautiful…" Only for his emotion to shift into excited anger the next second. "Damn, this guy never misses! How can someone be this good?! I swear if I ever come across him, I'm risking getting killed to get his autograph!"
-Knock, knock-
Someone knocked at the door.
"Denki, have you studied?"
"Ah?! Uhm, yes—I mean, yeah, of course I have!"
…
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| Endeavor's home |
…
Shoto Todoroki sat on his living room's couch, checking his phone with a bored expression—being yet another victim of doomscrolling.
Of course, being the disciplined guy he was, he wasn't exactly enjoying it. He was only scrolling because there was nothing else to do. He had already studied a respectable amount, trained in the morning, and had another session scheduled for the evening.
So for now, he was simply killing time while waiting for his sister to finish making lunch.
Then, the video you already know about appeared.
{"Rockine—"}
Sadly, he scrolled down almost immediately.
If it wasn't interesting at first glance, he wasn't gonna waste time watching it.
And so, while the minutes passed, many videos fell victim to Todoroki's lack of interest. He only stayed in for informative videos about hero life, or scientific shorts that talked about temperature or similar stuff.
His spree of doomscrolling came to an end, however, when his sister's voice called out to him.
"Shoto, food is ready!"
He tossed his phone aside and quickly went to eat.
Today, his favourite dish was being served, cold Soba.
As soon as he sat at their table, he eyed the plates covered in food with hungry eyes.
But as he glanced at his sister, he couldn't help but be taken aback.
She had stopped mid-serving while glancing at her phone, music coming from it.
"What is it, Fuyumi?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing." She was quick to snap out of it, shoving her phone back in her pocket, before sitting down with Shoto.
Shoto blinked, then dismissed it easily. Whatever it was, it didn't seem important.
But as he was about to sit as well and begin eating—
"That one's going to the playlist." His sister muttered something.
Shoto could only raise an eyebrow in confusion.
…
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| Yaoyorozu Household |
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Momo was deeply absorbed in her studies. A carefully organised pile of books sat beside her—each one containing advanced chemistry materials. On her other side was a plate piled with assorted sweets.
As the minutes passed, she alternated between reading, eating a sweet, and creating small cubic samples of different materials—each perfectly shaped—while remaining engrossed in the book in her hands.
Eventually, she let out a weary sigh and rubbed her temple with a tired expression.
"Some tea would be nice," she murmured, placing the book down and standing up.
She left her room and headed toward the kitchen. There, she saw the maid in charge of cooking scrolling through her phone with one hand while wiping down the counter with the other.
"Yuka-san, could I bother you with—"
Her words stopped when a melody reached her ears—the sound coming from the maid's phone.
Although Momo wasn't particularly fond of that genre, for some reason, she found herself unexpectedly drawn in.
She approached, leaning slightly to peek over Yuka's shoulder.
"Yuka-san?"
"Ah!" The maid jumped out of her trance, spinning around in a hurry. "I'm so sorry, Momo-sama! I got distracted!"
"It's fine," Momo assured with a gentle smile, though her eyes drifted curiously toward the phone. "What was that music?"
"Eh? This?" Yuka blinked, then turned her phone back on.
The video resumed immediately.
Yuka explained, "It's the song a vigilante played yesterday at the musical festival in Tokyo. Apparently, he crashed the event and took over the stage before leaving once he finished."
Momo's expression tightened with concern. "Did anyone end up hurt?"
"Eh?" Yuka blinked rapidly, sweating slightly. "Ah—no, no! Actually, from what I've seen, the crowd looked like they enjoyed being hostages… a lot."
Momo sweatdropped lightly.
But before either could comment further, the song intensified. The footage showed Taka floating high above the stage as his guitar solo completely overtook the music, making both their eyes widen.
By the time the song ended, it took them a full ten seconds to snap out of their trance.
"R-right! What can I serve you, Momo-sama?" Yuka asked quickly.
"Ah—tea, please. I'm a bit stuffed from the sweets."
"Right away!"
As the maid began preparing it, Momo spoke again.
"By the way, what is the name of that vigilante?"
…
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| Takoba Municipal Beach |
…
"Haaah… hah… hah…" A green-haired teenager breathed heavily as he sat on a malfunctioning refrigerator, the top of his tracksuit resting beside him while his upper body dripped with sweat.
His gaze swept across the massive stretch of trash left for him to clear—nearly a kilometer of it.
His body might have been taking a breather, but his mind was still running nonstop.
'I should prioritize cleaning that area first. That'll make it easier to carry the scraps on this side, since they're pretty big and cumbersome.'
His analytical eyes scanned the mess, planning a better approach to the task he'd been given.
But then he snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward a certain person nearby.
A skeletal blond man wearing an oversized T-shirt—none other than the Number One Hero, All Might.
Midoriya had long since grown accustomed to his mentor's presence.
Instead, what caught his attention was the fact that All Might was staring intensely at his phone… and music was coming from it?
"All Might?" Midoriya stood and approached him.
The hero paused the video he was watching and looked up. "Ah, sorry, young Midoriya. I was checking some footage from an incident that happened a few stations from here last night. I had been asleep, so I didn't get called in."
"An incident?" Midoriya tilted his head.
"Nothing too major. Something happened at the musical festival, you know, the one that's done every year."
Midoriya looked a bit embarrassed. "Uhm… sorry, I don't..."
All Might waved him off. "It's fine. I don't know much myself either."
"What happened?" Midoriya asked, curious about what kind of situation would catch the Number One Hero's interest.
"Someone intruded into the event and took over the stage for a bit—played their song, and then left."
"Oh." Midoriya nodded, though he looked a little lost.
It didn't sound like something big enough for a hero of All Might's caliber to care about.
All Might laughed. "Hahaha, no need to think too hard. I was just checking the footage, and I liked the music, so I kept replaying it."
"Oh." Midoriya nodded again, still clearly confused.
He wasn't into music, so he didn't really get the appeal.
But then, when All Might showed him the video, Midoriya's eyes widened.
"That's Rockinesis!"
"Oh? You know him?" All Might smiled.
"Of course! He's been trending a lot these days. Mostly because of the mystery around him—showing multiple abilities when he was originally assumed to just have Telekinesis. Ranging from creating clones, allegedly, shooting lasers, super strength, super speed, and who knows what more! I actually have a theory that all his powers come from a single—"
"Ahem!"
All Might cut him off before he went on with another of his rants with a forced cough. "Enough chit-chat, young Midoriya. There's still plenty of scrap to move, and plenty of daylight left."
"A-ah… yes!"
And with that, Midoriya went right back to work.
…
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| Not too far away, in the same city… |
…
A spiky, explosive blond grinned cockily as he finished answering several questions on a worksheet on his desk.
"Hah, that written exam will be a piece of cake," he snorted. "Now I won't need to worry about some extra overstepping even in this."
Although at the mention of extra, memories of what happened months ago with the sludge villain resurfaced.
That bastard… Deku, he had jumped in to save him. And after that, he'd said he'd try to enter U.A. too.
That guy… he was going too far with his delusions.
"…"
Bakugo's eyes narrowed. Then he scoffed proudly. "Hah, as if that damn Deku could actually enter the hero course being Quirkle—"
"Katsuki, go throw the trash, please!" Bakugo's mom called from outside his room.
"Argh, you damn hag, why can't you do it?! I'm busy over here!"
"What did you say, you brat?! You better move this instant, or I'm beating your ass to a pulp!"
Bakugo scoffed.
"Whatever."
Minutes later, he stepped outside carrying several trash bags.
He tossed them into the container and turned to leave.
But just as he was about to walk off—
"Hey, did you see the vigilante thing from yesterday?"
"Yeah, it was awesome!"
"My dad says our uncle was there. Apparently, he almost had a heart attack from the hype."
"Really? The song in the clip is good, but was it that epic?"
"Dunno, wasn't there."
The group of kids walked away, leaving a slightly puzzled Bakugo behind.
"Hah? A vigilante?"
…
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| Kanagawa prefecture, In a room full of posters of sexy heroines in swimsuits… |
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"Hngh…! That guy—I'm so damn envious. He must have dozens of chicks digging him right now!" A short, purple, ball-haired teenager bit his nails as he stared at the Rockinesis video you already know, a vein pulsing on his forehead.
But then, he closed the video, tossing the phone aside as a determined expression appeared on his face.
"That'll be me once I get into U.A… And nothing and no one will stop me!!!"
Sadly for him, the world is full of disappointments.
…
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| Taka's room, two days later… |
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The sun seeped in through the window's blinds, hitting Taka's face and stirring him awake.
-Yawn…-
"What, it's morning already?"
Taka pushed himself up from bed, scratching one eye—albeit unnecessarily, since his Clean skill prevented things like gunk from forming in the first place.
Groaning and stretching, he slipped out of bed and went straight to his laptop.
"Alright, let's see how the song is doing."
The evening after his stunt at the musical festival—meaning yesterday—Taka had gone back to the Rockibase and performed the whole song again, this time to upload it as an official music video on his channel.
He finished editing it at home, passed by a cyber café to upload it, then returned home and knocked out instantly.
Which brought him to now.
His anxiety level was high enough that checking his gains was the first thing he did upon waking up.
So he opened his non-criminally-attached account and clicked on the video.
"Alright, about eight hours have passed since I uploaded it. A few dozen thousand views would be—huh?"
He blinked. Then blinked again. Then rubbed his eyes, wondering if his Clean skill had malfunctioned and let something blurry slip through.
But when he stared back at the screen, he realized it wasn't his vision.
It was real.
"A million views?!" Taka almost fell from his chair.
Immediately, he pulled up his status.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[STATUS PAGE]
▸ Strength: 126
▸ Defense: 252
▸ Aura Projection: 9463
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Total Aura: 10802
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
"Holy shit," Taka gawked at the number.
Just two days ago, he'd barely reached the nine-thousands.
After that, his passive gains had jumped from 60 to around 200 in one go, netting him roughly 400 points in just two days.
And now, after uploading the song—in just eight hours—He had gained 1,400 aura?
"Haha…" Taka laughed, half-shocked, half-overjoyed.
And that was just over the night, more aura would probably be coming during the week, until it eventually slowed down.
But even then, he could just do something else to keep his fame ignited.
And if he continued like this for the three months that were left…
"I'm gonna be stacking aura like crazy from now on…" Taka laughed, making the calculations in his mind.
And, as he reached exorbitant numbers, he couldn't help but wonder…
'Just what kind of monster will I be by the time canon arrives?'
His future was bright, that was for sure.
From now on, it would all go uphi—
"Oi, Taka! I heard you waking up! Stop jerking off and come downstairs to spar. Some idiot photographed me while I was on a date yesterday, so I'm feeling extra rusty!" Seiji's shout from outside the door snapped him out of his power trip, black lines appearing on Taka's face.
Despite all his "almighty power," he was still getting knocked around by that guy.
"I hate this," Taka gritted his teeth.
Today—today was the day he beat the shit out of him, that was for sure.
With determined eyes, Taka stood up.
"Prepare to get humiliated by a kid fifteen years younger than you fucker!"
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: Hey, how was the multiple character showcase? I tried to portray everyone's personality nicely, and while at it, show some funny situations. But I don't know if I screwed up. I think it went well, but you never know.
Also, you know, it's kind of funny. In my notes where I plan some things of this story, I have the objective of making Taka reach 5000 aura by the time U.A. begins.
...
I guess I didn't have enough vision.)