"Good morning, please feel free to be seated, and then once everyone's here, we may start".
Nezu was a simple being, or at least, he felt he was. He enjoyed good tea, good tobacco and having enough private grooming time to ensure that his fur remained as luxurious as possible, despite everyone else's insistence that he wear 'people' clothing.
The secret to his particularly glossy coat was keratin, which sadly meant that his human colleagues would be forever unable to match his luscious sheen, even if they didn't insist on covering themselves up.
At least Midnight made sure her own choices were the same shade of colour as her skin tone, or that they covered as little as herself up as possible. Pro Hero costumes might have served additional purposes, usually combat support, but everyone else - all of the normal people - insisted on using such bland choices as skin covering.
They could all at least try and wear something more interesting than the same thing that everyone else was wearing.
As one of the world's premier minds, specialising in Quirk analysis and criminal investigation, in addition to his duties as a licenced Pro Hero and the Principal of the Ultra Academy of Heroics - the world's premier heroics institution, he was pleased to say - Nezu had amassed quite the fortune, which meant that he could order personalised teas, tobacco and all of the customised silken suits he could wear on his animalistic frame.
(Was he a bear, a dog or a mouse? Nobody knew for certain, well except for himself of course, and he certainly was not going to share such personal information freely).
But what mattered right now, was that he was the Principal!
Though he struggled to understand them on an active level, Nezu had made an extensive study of human behaviour, including biology, biochemistry, psychology and sexuality over the years he had been alive, but it always left him feeling mildly confused when the staff he employed - all of whom he considered to have intelligence beyond what he felt was a base requirement necessary to work as part of his faculty - continued to insist on starting each and every new academic year with the same argument, forcing him to serve as their referee.
Still, at least they sat down when he told them to.
They also ate and slept when he told them too, but the fact that they insisted on arguing meant that there was still something slightly off with his training methods. The fact that he currently had a reasonably consistent overturn was not helping matters, but he was yet to create a way to command their personal lives.
Mixing in the new with the old often made pets more difficult to train appropriately, yet he persisted, knowing that it would one day prove itself a useful tool in his arsenal.
Around the rectangular table that took up the majority of the space his faculty meeting room, Nezu gazed out and made eye contact with each member of his staff: Present Mic smiled back at him, as did Midnight, while they forced the ever exhausted, but still alert Eraserhead to sit between them, who returned his gaze with a curt nod.
Eraserhead would be one of the homeroom teachers for the incoming new first-year heroics students, teaching Class 1-A. His counterpart for Class 1-B was to be Vlad King, who had taken the seat opposite him, also taking a moment to greet him with a polite nod. He was flanked by Cementoss and Snipe, the former of whom raised a hand in greeting, while the latter tipped his cowboy hat.
Even off-duty, his love for western culture remained as part of his 'get-up'.
Recovery Girl took the seat that was directly opposite to himself, and unlike the others, she did not bother with a greeting, having already explained to him in the past - seventeen times now - why these annual meetings were a waste of her time. She filled out the side farthest from him with Hound Dog, Thirteen, Power Loader and Lunch Rush, while the seat to his immediate right was filled by Ectoplasm, his vice principal.
All that left was the seat to his immediate left, which was unfortunately empty.
Nezu considered himself an educator first, and a Pro Hero second.
And he did not abide tardiness.
"He's late", Eraserhead said, glaring at the empty space, as though he possessed the power to manifest their missing colleague though sheer irritation.
"Yes", Nezu replied, as he poured himself a cup of tea, "I noticed".
"So…", Present Mic began, peering around the room, "what do we do?"
Nezu smiled, as he brought his teacup to his lips, "Naturally, we wait for a moment".
"Okay, but for how long do we-"
Vlad King was cut off when the door to the room opened, and the emaciated form of a tall, blond man stepped inside, doing his best to discretely slip in without being seen, which was ruined when every head instantly snapped up to face him.
"Ah", he reached behind his head, scratching at the lion's mane that he called his hair, "I appear to be running just a tad late", he admitted, before bowing to them, "please accept my apologies".
"All Might", Nezu chided, as the man took his place in the remaining seat beside him, "you will be responsible for the wellbeing of school children in just a few short weeks. You must not let this tardiness become a habit before the school year even starts".
"I know, I know", he waved off their concerns, as he settled into his seat, "but there was a four-car pile-up, and then a young woman's purse was stolen-"
"There are several other heroes active in the local area", Nezu reminded him, "some of them were even trained here. Surely at least one of them was up to handling it".
"Well, it's just - I was already there, Principal and it just made sense for me to-"
"You really must learn to let others handle these things. You are wasting what little time you have left".
"I know that sir", the blond behemoth stammered out, gaining several amused smirks from around the room, as he cowered in the face of such a small creature, "and might I say that your fur is looking especially glossy today".
"Thank you", his tail wagged behind him, "the secret is keratin, without it, I am afraid that you base humans are simply incapable of obtaining a coat this shiny".
"Well, it looks particularly good today".
"Oh, for the love of", Eraserhead mumbled, "can we get on with this already? I'd like to be able to get a decent nap in before I go on patrol".
"Certainly", Nezu agreed, and everyone sat up straighter, as he tapped away at the holographic keyboard that appeared in front of his paws, "now then, everyone, we're here to decide on the class placements for our incoming first-year heroic course students. I believe we should begin with this year's four recommendation students, so then, let us commence the discussion with this year's fifth-place student, Mister Juzo Honenuki".
Midnight frowned, "Fifth place?"
Nezu hummed, "Yes, it appears that our first-place student, one Yoarashi Inasa, turned down our offer of placement. I have been reliably informed that he will number among the incoming First Year student body at Shiketsu High School for Heroics", Nezu frowned, "it is quite the oddity actually".
"First place turning down a place at U.A., yeah we can tell".
A few of them chuckled at Vlad King's comment, the man himself smirking, but Nezu just shook his head.
"Oh, no, it is more than just that. I simply find it odd that our first-place recommendation student and first place heroics student have both turned down their offers to join our heroics course".
"So… they'll both be going to Shiketsu then? Or I assume they will", Snipe drawled, while a few of the others scoffed, pride in their own hallowed halls on full display, "that's quite the boon for our rivals then".
"Yoarashi Inasa will be attending Shiketsu, yes, but the first-place scorer from the standard exams will be entering our Department for General Education. He has already been assigned to Class 1-C".
There was a moment's pause, as that information sank in, and as he wondered which one of them would break the silence first, he took the opportunity to enjoy more of his tea.
Being the loudest member of his team, he was happy that Yamada didn't disappoint, leaping to his feet, as everyone else continued to deal with the information they'd been given.
"WHAT?!"
=== === === === ===
"But… he passed the Heroics exams, but then said that he wanted to go into Gen-Ed?"
"Indeed, his forms said as much. As did his uniform purchases".
"Is it possible-"
"I even arranged for my secretary to contact his home, just so that we could be certain that there had not been some misunderstanding with the holographic message I sent to him, but yes, Izuku Midoriya has turned down our offer to join the Heroics Course and will be joining us as a member of our Department for General Education".
"Do we know whose choice this is?"
He turned his head to meet Aizawa's tired gaze, "What do you mean?"
"Is it his choice or someone else's? His wouldn't be the first parents to refuse to let their children attend the Heroics Course. They could be worried about the inherent element of danger involved".
"Unknown at this time".
"It might be rare, but it's not unheard of for Recommendation Students to go elsewhere. Inasa is surprising, but not the first individual to have chosen Shiketsu over us, but I honestly can't say that I've ever heard of the standard first-place heroics student refusing his placement offer before though", Thirteen pointed out, "how well did he actually do?"
"Well, as you should all know, this year marks our fourth year running this particular examination layout-"
"The Robo-Inferno!"
"Yes… thank you, Yamada, and what I can tell you about his performance is that Izuku Midoriya has broken the record set by Nejire Hado two years ago. He achieved a score of eighty-nine villain points and seventy-five rescue points for a total score of one hundred and sixty-four, which far surpasses the score of one hundred and three set by Miss Hado".
As he spoke, he brought up a few clips their cameras had captured of Mister Midoriya's performance, ending with his rather impressive defeat of the zero-pointer.
All Might let out a low whistle, "Now that's what I call a SMASH-ingly good effort".
He chuckled at his own joke, joined by a few of the others, while the rest were too engrossed in the imagery to care.
"If this is the parents' choice, is it worth paying them a visit", Kan asked, "and seeing if, perhaps, we can't convince them to change their minds?"
Recovery Girl frowned, "Are you suggesting that we coerce this boy's parents into-"
"No, no, not at all", he rushed to refute her, "I'm just saying that if this is a simple matter of concern over his safety, then surely, we can offer them some form of reassurance that we will look after their child. We are the number one heroics institute in Japan for a reason".
"While I cannot speak to full contents of the conversation itself, my secretary reliably informs me that they did speak with Missus Midoriya herself. She confirmed that this was her son's decision".
"Oh", the Blood Hero wrinkled his nose, "well, I guess that's that then".
"Right", Aizawa nodded, "because parents never lie to us about their kids".
"Even if she did, it doesn't matter", Ken Ishiyama, also known as the Concrete Hero: Cementoss, and before today, the newest member of his faculty pointed out, always so mindful of his students' wellbeing, "he's a minor and she's the parent, his legal guardian, responsible for doing what she thinks is best for his wellbeing. Her say is the only one that matters here".
"Indeed", Nezu agreed, determined to get his discussion back on track before his employees could return to their bickering, "now if we could all return to the reason for our meeting. I believe we were about to discuss young Honenuki and his pending class placement".
"Right, sorry".
There were murmured apologies, as everyone settled back down, and thankfully, Nezu managed to return everyone back to the task in front of them.
He really needed to stop letting them do this every year and just start assigning the classes himself.
=== === === === ===
"Good morning, little listeners! It's your boy, the Voice Hero: Present Mic and I'm here to announce that I am your new homeroom teacher, YEAH!"
Hizashi grinned as he entered the room, taking in the sights and sounds of his new homeroom class. Despite his former reservations about taking the post at his age, he'd really come to love his job as a teacher, and while being the school's English teacher was nice enough, he'd found that the real fun part of his job was in being a homeroom teacher.
Every year he got a new batch of kids to look after, and it was always more fun seeing and helping them grow than just teaching them English.
Almost twenty pairs of nervous eyes darted to the windows as he called out his typical greeting, his yell seeming to shake the glass within the windowpanes, but he just kept up his grin. He knew exactly how much force they could handle before he was at risk of damaging them, but they wouldn't know that.
It was good to keep them on their toes.
He did notice that one of the girls had placed her hands over her ears when he'd yelled, as relatively quiet as he was, and he made a note to keep an eye on her. While it was possible that he'd just startled her, it was just as possible that she had sensitive hearing, or even a Quirk that enhanced it.
He also couldn't help but notice that the only other student who hadn't stared at the windows was Izuku Midoriya. Mister First Place himself apparently wasn't concerned with the windows shaking, but Hizashi had seen the awkward way his jawline had twitched when he'd yelled, so he wasn't quite as immune to the noise as he appeared to be.
His Quirk, Tactile Telekinesis, apparently applied a constant telekinetic force to his body, enhancing its abilities far beyond normal human levels. He'd seen what it did to his physical strength and speed, and if that applied to his senses as well, then Midoriya could have some pretty impressive hearing.
He took up his customary position at the front of the classroom, his desk having been built just tall enough for him to casually rest against it, as he took command of everyone's attention, "You can all call me Yamada-sensei, Present Mic-sensei, Mic-sensei or hell, even just Present Mic will do, I don't mind, but what's important right now is that orientation begins in fifteen minutes, so we'll need to take a quick registration and then get going, but before all of that, please allow me to welcome you all to your first year as students of the Ultra Academy's Department for General Education. Welcome to Class 1-C!"
He spread his arms wide as he finished, awaiting their applause, knowing that it probably wasn't coming, "Wow, tough crowd", and then he shrugged, "eh, I'll train you guys up to it. It'll be fun… right then, registration first and then onto orientation, so… Agoyamato?"
"Present".
"Asa?"
"Present".
As his new homeroom teacher went down his list of names, taking a pause in between each name to take sight of each student's face, Izuku used his time to make sure that his new notebooks and pens were ready to be used. He made sure that his name and student ID number were written within the cover, and then discretely patted the inside pocket of his jacket, making sure that everything was as it should be.
He had no idea how fragile his new crystal was, but he hadn't felt comfortable leaving it at home.
He didn't know what it did or what it was for, but something told him that he needed to be the one to use it.
And right now, his instincts were all he had to guide him.
Well, instinct and a recorded speech that he had no way of understanding.
"Midoriya?"
"Present".
He looked up as he spoke, gaining a thumbs up from Present Mic, and as he did, he also saw another student to his left; a boy with purple hair, snap his gaze around to face him, his eyes narrowing thinly when the two of them made contact. Izuku flicked his head up in greeting, trying to offer him a polite smile, only for him to scoff and turn back to face the front of the classroom.
"Shinso?"
"Present".
Well, at least he had a name to go with his face.
=== === === === ===
"Okay then, listeners", Present Mic smiled at them all, "you can all feel free to leave your things here, but right now, we've got orientation to get to, so if you could all take collect the school guidebooks that are on the inside of your desks, then step into the corridor and form a single file line, I can show you the way".
Izuku retrieved his guidebook, finding it exactly where it was supposed to be, and he wasted no time joining the others in lining up outside. He found himself standing behind Shinso, the same guy who'd scoffed at him earlier, and when he saw that Izuku was standing behind him, he gave him a once over with his eyes, before rolling them and turning away with a huff.
Izuku seriously wanted to know what was up him.
Behind him, a few of the other students chuckled at his behaviour, and when he turned to look at them, they snickered, no doubt finding the entire thing hilarious. He shrugged, earning a few more giggles, before turning back, giving his attention to Present Mic when he joined them.
"All right then guys", Present Mic stepped outside, as the last of them emptied the classroom, "to orientat-"
'BOOM!'
Coming from somewhere outside, there was the sound of an explosion sounded, and more than one of his classmates flinched as a result. One of them, a girl with what appeared to be a mesh cover over her ears actually clamped her hands over her ears, as she dropped to the floor, yelping in pain.
While the others seemed confused by what had happened, Izuku had recognised that noise.
Bakugo.
Wherever he was, something had just been exploded.
Hopefully that noise would mean that he wouldn't have to put up with Bakugo during orientation.
Maybe he'd get lucky, and the Heroics Department would be on an entirely different timetable, and the two of them wouldn't have to interact at all.
In fact, if he was lucky enough, maybe Bakugo would no longer be a student of U.A., and that explosion was his last one.
He already knew that that last option wouldn't happen, at least, not on the first day, but there was no rule that said a man couldn't dream.
=== === === === ===
The only way Izuku could describe the main building of the Ultra Academy was ridiculous.
In addition to being absolutely enormous; it had been built as a set of four interconnected towers. Each tower had exactly fifteen floors and was connected to each other by a series of glass enclosed bridges, which could be accessed on the eighth floor, making it so that no matter which direction you chose to look at U.A. from, it would always look like a rather large letter 'H'.
A giant 'H' for all of the world to see, just in case they managed to forget that U.A. was the place that made heroes.
The first tower was the Education Tower. It had the standard classrooms for all of U.A.'s lessons, including the spaces used for all of their homeroom classes. Every lesson for the Department of General Education was conducted within its walls, as well as the standard lectures that the Heroics Department had to undertake. As well as classrooms, it also had smaller rooms for group work and independent study, the school's library, a handful of computer labs of various sizes and most importantly, the student cafeteria was on the eighth floor.
While their actual orientation would be used to inform them of everything they needed to know, Present Mic also kept up a running commentary as he led them through the building. The second and third towers were used to the Support Course and Business Course students, and were filled with a plethora of workshops, studios, offices and mock locations for study and training, while the fourth tower was the Administrative Tower, and it was there that was their destination.
In addition to being the school's public access building, the Administrative Tower hosted the various offices for the school's staff members, including meeting rooms and their private cafeteria, the school's emergency assembly points, locker rooms, (U.A. apparently also served a legal Pro Hero Agency for the staff members who worked there), the upper floors contained small apartments for those on staff who wanted them, and the ground floor held their current destination: the assembly hall.
Unlike in his old school, where they had all knelt on the floor in straight lines, U.A.'s assembly hall had a decidedly more western design to it, and consisted on rows of foldout chairs, each row raised several centimetres above the row in front of the one before, until there was a gentle slope of chairs looking down onto the main stage, where several members of staff were already waiting for them. Along the side of the room, there were also several extra-large chairs, which he assumed were for those born with Heteromorphic Quirks that left them too physically large to fit into a standard chair.
Each class apparently had a designated row, so being in Class C, they were told to sit in the third row. Most of the other rows were already filled up, with Classes B, E, F, G, H and K already seated. It didn't take long for Classes D and I to show up either, shuffling in almost at the same time, and then all that remained was for Class A to show up and fill in the front row.
Yet they never arrived.
Instead, Principal Nezu rose to his feet, standing behind the small podium set up for speakers, as the small square of stage he was stood on rose out of the ground, elevating him, until his face was level with the microphone that had been set up for a human of average height.
"That is much better", he spoke into the microphone, his voice chipper as he raised one of his paws in greeting, "and good morning. Welcome, new first year students, to the Ultra Academy for Heroics!"
There were a few murmured replies from his fellow students, though Izuku made sure that he wasn't one of the ones speaking, instead choosing to keep his mouth firmly closed.
The last thing he wanted was to draw the attention of every Pro Hero in the school onto himself.
It was already bad enough that they might have been able to recognise him from the Entrance Exam last month. He had no way of knowing just who among the staff might have seen it.
"My name is Nezu", the small being continued, still sounded relaxed, completely unaware of the thoughts and worries plaguing Izuku's mind, "and am I a bear, a dog or a mouse? Who knows, because what matters right now is that I am the Principal!"
There were a few snickers from the crowd, but apparently the Principal wasn't expecting much of a response, because he simply chose to continue with his speech, "Now, behind me are my fellow members of faculty, who I will introduce to you momentarily, but before we get to that, first let me properly welcome you all to the Ultra Academy for Heroics, where we aim to guide and shape the future of society, today".
Izuku found himself straightening up as the Principal spoke, and a quick glance down the line told him that he wasn't the only person to do so. The diminutive being, (creature?), that was the Principal had barely started with his speech, but there was something about its contents that had him hanging on every word.
He'd wanted to be a student of U.A. his entire life.
He wasn't going to ignore a single thing that was said today.
"The Ultra Academy for Heroics", Nezu continued, his tone still perfectly pleasant, "was founded with the core belief that those of us with the ability to impact society have the responsibility to do so in a way that leads to the betterment of all of its people", he told them, letting that settle for a moment, before he continued, "and here, we, the faculty, will endeavour to do everything within the full range our powers, skills and abilities to help you to realise your full potential. Some of you are here to actively study and enter the field of heroics. Some of you are here to become the next shining stars of the support industry. Some of you are here to become the next great business magnate. Some of you are here for different reasons entirely. Some of you may not even know why you are here yet, but what unites us all, is the fact that we are members of the most prestigious high school in all of Asia. We are all here to go beyond".
"Plus Ultra", Izuku murmured, happy when he realised that he hadn't been the only person to do so.
Nezu smiled, nodding once, "Yes. Plus Ultra. You will find that our resources and facilities are the finest in the world, and with our guidance, your time and a great deal of effort from all of us, we hope to see you become first class members of society. Now, if you could please pay attention, each of the staff members will take a moment to introduce themselves to you. Afterwards, we will explain the layout of the campus, as well as any security measures that come with each particular building, before a brief outline of the upcoming school year will take us to lunchtime. Now, please allow me to introduce the Vice Principal of the Ultra Academy for Heroics, Juzo Surima, also known as the Integer Hero: Ectoplasm".
=== === === === ===
Ectoplasm was a nice enough speaker, Izuku supposed. He wasn't particularly compelling, but he had a nice voice to listen to, and in all fairness to the man, taking everyone through the basic U.A. security measures they were expected to remember wasn't the most interesting of subjects, even if it was one of the most important. When he was finished, everyone clapped politely, as the Vice Principal and mathematics teacher retook his seat, only for him to be replaced by Power Loader.
Power Loader talked them through the school's facilities, before Midnight spoke about the resources for student health and wellness.
Recovery Girl introduced herself and Hound Dog as the school nurse and guidance counsellor, while Present Mic talked to everyone about their weekly schedule and how U.A. took a non-traditional approach, which focused on practical experience and how they operated a system of constant evaluation, instead of sticking to the classroom with a single set of exams.
Vlad King outlined the school events for the year, highlighting the time they'd have dedicated to internships over the summer, while the vaunted U.A. Sports & Culture Festival would take place in October. Their final exams for the year would take place in January.
Thirteen gave them all a brief, but rather harsh lecture about the standards of behaviours expected from students at U.A., before she reminded them all that while the nature of U..A meant they had free use of their Quirks while on campus, this was a trust for their students that would be closely monitored and, if necessary, it could and would be revoked. She also made sure to remind everyone that it did not grant them the right to use them anywhere that wasn't a part of the official U.A. campus.
Lunch Rush briefly introduced himself as the person responsible for running the cafeterias, who would be happy to accommodate any of their dietary requirements, before Cementoss spoke about the extra-curricular activities that were available at U.A., and Izuku was slightly surprised when he informed Class 1-B that, as they were students of the Heroics Course, they were prohibited from joining any of them, instead they were expected to devote all of their time to the Heroics Course and its extensive training regimen.
Snipe, the final member of staff present at the assembly, gave them all a quick rundown of the basic, non-specialised curriculum that everyone would have to complete, but promised them all that their teachers would go more in depth with them during their first lessons, and once he was finished, he handed the microphone back to Principal Nezu, who allowed his platform to raise him back into the air once again.
"Thank you, everyone, for your attention so far. I have doubt that you are all as hungry as you appear to be, so before I release you all for lunch and then this afternoon's classes, I have just one more thing that I would like to say".
Clearing his throat, the Principal reached for the microphone, ensuring that it was perfectly positioned in front of his mouth, (Izuku didn't know if he should think of it as his mouth or his maw), and lowered the tone of his voice, sounding, just for a moment, to be much more serious than he already had, "Each and every one of you sitting here today has already proven something extraordinary - that you have the potential to be great. You have studied hard, trained hard and pushed yourselves beyond the rest of your peers to earn a place at this school, but make no mistake: this is just the beginning of your journey. You are not just students - you are the future. The future of this country. The future of this world. You will become the leaders, the guides and the protectors for your generation, and the inspirations for those that follow after. What you accomplish and achieve here at U.A. has the potential to not just transform your life, but all of the lives around you, but the choice is yours… so ask yourselves, are you up to it?"
The assembly hall fell completely silent, no one wanting to make a sound. For a moment, the atmosphere felt ominous, but the Principal just grinned, showing off his teeth, "Welcome to the Ultra Academy for Heroics everyone, where we will see what you are made of. Now, please, enjoy your lunch".
=== === === === ===
Just like Principal Nezu had asked them to, Izuku found that he did actually enjoy his lunch, (for once), as he sat at a table with some of his new classmates, and they began the awkward task of eating their lunch while trying to make friends with a group of strangers.
Not for the first time in his life, Izuku was glad to have spent as much of his free time in the hospital as he had, because one of the things that never changed, was the influx of new patients, all of whom you had to meet for the first time.
As it turned out, the girl with the mesh over her ears was Choga Asa, and her Quirk, Hemp, made it so that she could create the hemp at will, and she had it over her ears because she had sensitive hearing. The hemp didn't block out the sounds around her, but it did help her to manage them.
They were sharing their table with Tsutsutaka Agoyamato and Chikuchi Togeike.
Izuku didn't want to judge people before he got to know them, but Togeike seemed like she was used to being in charge. She had her eyes set into a stern expression, and it looked harsher because of how thin they were, but she hadn't said anything mean to anyone, or about anyone, that Izuku had heard and she seemed happy to talk the three of them, while enjoying her sandwich. Her Quirk was called Water Bullets, and it allowed her to control water, forming it into the shape of small spikes, or 'bullets', as she called them, and then fire them.
Agoyamato appeared to be as tall as Izuku was, but he had a very pronounced jaw and wore his dark blue hair in the shape of a pompadour. He was quiet while he was sat with them, and Izuku wasn't sure if he was shy, or just not interested in talking much. He did perk up when Izuku revealed that he had a Quirk similar to Agoyamato's. His was called, Big Brawn, and it granted him superstrength, though he seemed put out when Izuku admitted that in addition to having superstrength, he also had superspeed to go along with it.
Before he'd admitted that last part, Togeike had been trying to convince the two of them to arm wrestle and determine who was the, "super-strongest", but she settled down when she saw how put-out Agoyamato had looked when Izuku admitted that his Quirk had more than one facet.
Thankfully, she turned the topic of their conversation away from their Quirks and towards their families.
That worked for him.
He was always happy to talk about his mom.
Agoyamato didn't have much to say about his, but Asa told them about her mom, who had the Butterfly Quirk, while Togeike told them how both of her dads worked in logistics for the HPSC.
"I love them, I do", she told them, "but I always wanted to do more, you know?"
"Yeah", he agreed, as the others nodded, "my mom's a nurse. She's always helping people, it's just-"
"It's not the same".
"No", he agreed, glad that, for once, somebody actually seemed to understand what he meant, "it's not".
=== === === === ===
Classroom seating at U.A. was done alphabetically, so while Agoyomato and Asa were sat next to each other in class, Izuku and Togeike were neither, sat near them, or beside each other. Their first afternoon classes were used to talk them through course outlines and served as a chance for their teachers to say 'hello' and introduce themselves. Rather than just the standard classes for the first day, each teacher took a half hour in each classroom, rather than taking up most of the week, and to Izuku's delight, not only did each and every one of them show up to class in their Pro Hero costumes, they all also signed his autograph notebook, (and everyone else's), but for once, as the bell rang, signalling the end of their first day, Izuku found that he hadn't eagerly been counting the seconds until he could escape and get away to the hospital or the school's newsroom.
Asa and Agoyamato were both being picked up, but like him, Togeike was taking the train, and they agreed to walk to the station together.
"Midoriya?"
Izuku span around when he heard his name to find that it was Shinso, the boy with the lavender hair that they also shared their classes with.
"Yes", he nodded, "it's Shinso, isn't it?" He stuck out his hand, "It's nice to meet you".
"Yeah, whatever", he shrugged, ignoring his hand, "but I wanted to check - it is Midoriya, right? I didn't mishear it earlier?"
He nodded again, "You didn't, I am Midoriya", he waited a moment, but when Shinso said nothing, he pulled his hand back and asked, "can I help you with something?"
"Midoriya…", he murmured, his eyes narrowing in what he was certain looked like anger, and Izuku wondered if they'd met before, as Togeike took a step closer to him, "I need to know, is it Izuku Midoriya?"
"Yeah…", he told him, wondering where the conversation was going as he confirmed the boy's question, "that's me".
"Of course it is", the other boy spat, his upset look turning into one of sheer rage.
Growling like an animal, Shinso pushed past him, storming off in anger, and with a practiced ease, Izuku let himself be moved to the side, rather than letting him bounce off of his shoulder and possibly injure something, as Shinso marched his way through the front gates of U.A. and out of sight, hunched over and not bothering to look back.
Togeike placed a hand on his arm, "Are you alright?"
Izuku knew he had a great memory, but he couldn't recall ever having seen Shinso at the hospital before. He didn't remember any patient that had shared his family name, nor had he attended Aldera Junior High School. As far as Izuku was aware, the two of them had never met before this morning.
"Yeah… it's just…"
"It's just what?"
He turned to face her, her expression showing her to be as confused as he was, "I wonder what on Earth I did to upset him?"
=== === === === ===
Author's Note
Okay, so we're (finally) caught up to where we were in 'Admittance', (Volume One, Part Two, Chapter One), so from here on now, unless it serves as a plot point, we'll be doing our best to advance in linear time and keep the story clean. I know it was difficult in the earlier chapters, so I hope you all have an easier time moving forward and I appreciate the feedback you all gave me on the layout.
It's never been discussed how each student ends up in each class, but in my head, the final forty and separated by their teachers, based on their homeroom teachers and their individual requirements, so we got a glimpse of that here.
U.A. replaces their entrance exam every five years or so, (or at least, it does in this universe), so Nejire Hado held the record on the robot combat exam we see in canon, (named Robo-Inferno by Present Mic), with a very impressive score of 103, until it was completely obliterated by Izuku and his score of 164.
Also, as I'm writing this chapter, I've discovered that in the future of My Hero Academia, Nejire has become a full Pro Hero, and in addition to being the Number Seven Pro Hero, she has also adopted the moniker of, 'The Wonder Hero'. I'm not sure if Horikoshi chose it in tribute to Wonder Woman, but I like to think it was. She's not going to be a Wonder Woman stand in, but it's a nice tribute to one of DC's big three, so I'm definitely going to use it here as well.
Ectoplasm, as he appears in the series has no given civilian name, so I've developed one for him, Juzo Surima (柔造 スリマー). His first name, his first, Juzo, contains the Kanji for 'soft' (柔) and 'structure' (造), and he shares this name with Juzo Honenuki from the incoming Class 1-B, (who is now his distant cousin, who was named for him). His surname, Surima, (スリマー) is a direct translation of the word, 'Slimer', and is a reference to the ghost of the same name from the iconic film series, 'Ghostbusters'.
His heroic title, the 'Integer Hero' is something I came up with - and I love it - because it's a mathematics pun, (what? I was a math nerd and he's the mathematics teacher, after all). It comes from the fact that his Quirk gives him the ability to create up to thirty-six clones of himself. For those of you who don't know, the number of thirty-six is the product of the square of the first three numerical integers:
1 x 1 = 1
2 x 2 = 4
3 x 3 = 9
1 x 4 x 9 = 36
Now, given that Izuku is currently a student in the Department for General Education, he's going to need to learn alongside and interact with other people, I've had to develop a few Original Characters (OCs) that may make a few appearances, in addition to building upon the minimal information that we were given for Shinso, and the lack of any background information that we were given for Togeike and Agoyamato from the canon series.
First up is Choga (蝶蛾) Asa (麻). Her name, 'Cho' (蝶) means 'butterfly', 'ga' (蛾) means 'moth' and her family name 'Asa' (麻) means 'hemp'. She has inherited her paternal family's Hemp Quirk, allowing her to create the material in any form she wishes, however she has also inherited a few features from her mother, who has a heteromorphic Butterfly Quirk, such as a sensitivity to certain sounds and vibrations in the air.
Neither Agoyamato nor Togeike have been given Quirks in canon, so I've provided ones for them, based on the kanji in their names:
For Agoyamato, the second part of Tsutsutaka, 'Taka' (隆), means "prosperous", "thriving" or "brawny".
For Togeike, her name contains the 'Toge' (棘), which means "thorn", and 'Ike' (池), which means "pond". She also needs to use existing water because her the beginning of her first name, 'Chiku' (築) means "to build/construct".