Monoma sighed softly. Maybe he had been too naive.
Transmigrating in one day and hoping to instantly be strong?
If he wanted instant power, he'd need something like a golden finger. A cheat. A system. One of those convenient, floating blue windows that treated life like a gacha game and handed out upgrades for breathing correctly.
And… he couldn't help it.
Monoma swallowed, eyes lifting like the ceiling might answer.
"System…?" he muttered, barely audible.
Silence followed.
Figures. There were no systems in the original anime either.
He woke early the next morning and left the house before his brain could fully start complaining. The front door clicked shut behind him. The sky was painted in that bright orange, almost gentle hue that made everything feel softer than it deserved to be.
The suburbs were quiet in that cozy way—still asleep, still holding onto the last crumbs of night. Somewhere nearby, the first cicadas started their buzzing chorus like they'd been waiting for a signal.
Monoma never liked cicadas.
But he couldn't deny what they meant: the day had officially begun.
Even though summer had finally begun, the air still had a leftover coolness from spring, like the season hadn't fully committed to being cruel yet. It brushed his cheeks and made the walk to U.A. almost pleasant.
As the school came into view at the end of the street, a sharp thud-thud-thud of hurried footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts—too fast, too close, and coming around the corner behind him.
He barely had time to turn before someone clipped his shoulder.
Both of them went down in a messy, unheroic tangle.
"Ah—sorry, man! My bad! I didn't wanna be late!" the other guy blurted, already halfway back up.
Monoma blinked, then pushed himself up with a sigh that felt older than his body.
It was a boy who looked similar in age to him. Silver messy hair. Razor-sharp teeth. A solid build that looked like it had been carved out of stubbornness. And crazy eyelashes that let you know this was an anime world.
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.
"Hm? Well, if it isn't Monoma!" Tetsutetsu said enthusiastically, like he hadn't just tackled him. "What's up, bro!"
Monoma brushed the dirt off his uniform.
"Agh… Tetsutetsu-san," he said, exhaling, "you really have to watch where you're going."
"I know, I know—" Tetsutetsu laughed, loud and bright. "But you're fine, right? No way a fellow member of Class B goes down from an injury like that! Hahaha!"
Tetsutetsu's expression sobered for a beat, the usual easy grin slipping into something more serious.
"Say, Monoma-kun… I heard you picked a fight with Class A again in the cafeteria."
Then, almost instantly, his face snapped back into that intense, fired-up look—loud, intimidating, and way too enthusiastic for the topic.
"Honestly? They had it coming," he barked, pumping a fist. "Especially with how arrogant they can be." His mind flashed to the way Katsuki Bakugo had acted during the school festival—like the whole room existed just to orbit him.
He huffed, rolling his shoulders like he was gearing up for a match.
"Look, that Kirishima guy isn't half bad… but some of the others?" He leaned in, voice dropping into a confident growl. "We'll show them Class B is just as good as they are."
If Monoma had to describe Tetsutetsu in one word, it would be hotheaded.
He looked intimidating—solid frame, sharp eyes, that loud kind of confidence that made people step aside—but he was also painfully straightforward. No schemes. No hidden meaning. Once he decided you were a bro, he wouldn't turn his back on you.
That was what Monoma had liked about him from the show.
His Quirk let him turn his whole body into steel, and honestly, it fit him perfectly. Straight metal. No tricks. No pretending.
Treat him right, and he'd treat you right.
Show up arrogant, acting like you were better than everyone else, and he'd dish it right back without hesitation.
They continued toward U.A. without detouring, passing sleepy streets where the tallest thing around was usually a streetlight or someone's overly ambitious tree. The sun sat low enough to glare without fully committing to heat.
Tetsutetsu walked with his hands behind his head like he owned the street. Every few steps, he shot Monoma a long, assessing look—head to toe—with the confidence of a guy who'd just decided something important.
'With his face? Yeah. Surely,' Tetsutetsu seemed to conclude.
Monoma let out a soft sigh.
"That's no way to walk with a friend," Tetsutetsu said immediately as he slung his arm around Monoma's shoulder.
"That pleasant grin of yours is the last thing I need this early," Monoma replied flatly. "It gives me instant depression."
"For real?"
"For real."
Tetsutetsu laughed like Monoma was hilarious, which was unfortunate because it meant he was encouraged.
"By the way, Monoma," he said, trying to sound casual and failing miserably, "think you can hook a bro up with a double date or something? We're in the passion of our youth, y'know!"
Monoma kept his eyes forward. He'd learned that reacting only fed him.
Tetsutetsu leaned closer anyway, grin widening. "So? Do you have someone you like?"
Then he started listing names like he was scrolling through a menu.
"Kendo? Shiozaki? Yanagi? Kodai…? Wait, Kodai's the quiet type, right? That's a high-difficulty route. Respect."
"Did you just turn our classmates into dating routes?" Monoma asked.
Tetsutetsu didn't even flinch. "Answer the question."
Then he scratched his cheek and added—like it was an afterthought he absolutely wasn't thinking about—"I mean… it doesn't have to be someone from Class B. That Uraraka girl in Class A, for example—she's got guts. Going up against Bakugo like that even when the odds were horrible? That's… kinda cool."
Monoma's eyes slid toward him. "You're weirdly specific for someone who's 'just giving examples.'"
"I'm just saying," Tetsutetsu barked, a little too loud, immediately recovering with his usual energy. "If you're gonna like someone, like someone who doesn't give up!"
Then—because subtlety wasn't a concept he respected—his expression twisted into exaggerated tragedy. He clasped his hands dramatically, eyes shimmering like he was auditioning to be the tragic best friend in a rom-com anime.
"O-or don't tell me…" he choked out, tears practically forming on command, "you already have a girlfriend or something, don't you…?"
Monoma stared at him.
'What exactly is he implying with "or something," and why do I feel like I don't want the answer?' he thought.
Aloud, he kept it level. "Nope. Not right now."
He emphasized now, just in case.
Tetsutetsu's eyes sparkled as if he'd just received divine revelation.
Before he could spiral any further, Monoma cut him off with the deadpan calm of someone used to dealing with this exact brand of stupidity.
"Before you focus on your romantic life," Monoma said, "you should focus on passing the final exams."
"Hahaha—no problem there!" Tetsutetsu puffed his chest out proudly, thumbing below his nose like it was obvious. "I might not look like it, but I'm actually pretty good at studying. As for the practical? I could bust through anything. I'm like true steel—like a drill that could pierce the heav—"
"Stop." Monoma cut him off at the exact moment he slid the classroom door open, saving himself—and everyone inside—from Tetsutetsu's endless rambling.
Even though it was still early, a few of their classmates were already there—quietly flipping through notes, chatting in low voices, the room filled with that calm morning hum. Monoma headed to his seat, set his bag down, and didn't waste time.
His eyes found the two people he needed if he was going to pass the practical exam.
Itsuka Kendo—Class B's orange-haired class president, bright-eyed, beautiful, and dependable as ever.
And beside her, the stocky, blue-haired vice-president Nirengeki Shoda. Who looked like he'd walked straight out of the Planet Namek arc himself.