My Place in the World (On Hiatus)

by Chivalry12

Summary:

Theta is a cybernetic soldier running from his purpose. Akio is an infamous assassin with a powerful quirk, escaped from a mysterious order with his only family. Their own dreams bring them to UA, where they both find they are startlingly out of touch with the normal world. Follow them and the rest of Class 1-A as they try their best to become heroes, even as the past catches up to them, and new threats are brewing in the shadows.

Chapter 1: L3tt3rs, Part 1

Summary:

Theta finds his way home after blowing some stuff up.

Notes:

Hi everyone, this is my first fanfiction ever, but I have read fanfiction since I was a lot younger, and have been thinking of this concept for a while. I hope you enjoy my first attempt. I would welcome any criticism, as I do want to improve. This story was inspired by several other fanfictions, chief among them Dragon Blade, by avtorsola on Fanfiction.net, I, the Thunder God by meikaros, and The Dark Side of the Sun by Spacepeeps. Seriously, go check all of those out if you haven't already. So anyways, enjoy the first chapter of My Place in the World, which introduces our first of the two main characters. Remember to comment with suggestions and criticisms. Have fun!

1300 hours, Star Date 23E. Intergalactic Institute for Research Star Base, Ekine System

Well, this is annoying. That was the primary thought going through Theta’s head as he hunkered down behind a piece of steel under a hail of fire.

Some of the institute’s Hybrid models were grouped at the far end of the hangar bay and were using laser pistols to try and pin him down while they attempted to summon back up. His only cover from the scorching projectiles were several large pieces of debris, likely from one of the ships he’d blown up in his initial approach to the base. He would be lying if he said he expected the mission to go better than this.

His cat like eyes very briefly flashed silver, looking to any outsider like he had gone blind, before Theta flipped up over his makeshift wall, drawing his sabre and beginning to run straight toward the small group of robots that impeded his way forward.

The hybrid models immediately fired upon him, but with speed that seemed inhuman, he ran headlong into the storm, seeming to dance between the lasers with a grace and skill that rivaled the best of any trained acrobat, seeming to just barely avoid every blast, as he covered the length the hangar bay, about 1 kilometer, in just about a minute, reaching the corridor the Hybrids were grouped near and going straight into action.

Five enemies. All long range Hybrids, and judging from the ball joints and metallic blue coloring, old ones. Maybe C7 or D2 models. Easy as pie.

The first Hybrid didn’t even know what hit it as his sabre lopped its head clean off, the blade cleaving straight through the thin metal of its neck. The white lights that served as eyes sputtered before going completely dark. The second one saw its comrade’s demise but didn’t have a chance to retaliate before Theta drove his sabre right into its power core, kicked it to the ground, turned, drew his pistol, and shot the third right in its central processor, the area right between its ‘eyes’. The fourth Hybrid raised its weapon, but before it could fire it found a dagger in one of its eyes and a blast in its chest. The final Hybrid got a shot off, maybe figuring it could catch Theta by surprise, but as if he knew it was coming, he leapt to the side, before shooting the unfortunate robot. All in all, the entire fight had lasted maybe twenty seconds. Not my best he thought as he shook his head, unkempt silver hair waving around as he did so. With those obstacles cleared, he holstered his pistol, sheathed his sabre, and turned to the corridor in front of him, and began moving carefully but quickly through the blank white, industrial looking halls.

Once inside, the star base was a complicated mess of corridors that snaked through the structure like a damn maze that would make even Theseus cry out in confusion after he found his thread in knots. Intruders who didn’t know what they were doing could wander for hours before eventually being detained. That was the whole point of the complicated design, after all, as anyone who worked there was given a digital map. Unfortunately for them, he came prepared. It hadn’t taken much, just a kidnapping and a bit of intimidation, and he had gotten the information he needed out of one of the crew. Go straight past the first junction, take a right at this intersection, a left at the next, on the fork go left again, move straight for ten doors and…found it.

The door itself was nothing remarkable when it came to doors, obviously not thought of as too important, since it only took a bit of finagling with the access panel before it slid open silently. Theta stepped into the room, about as large as a broom closet, and began to search. The room itself had shelves built into the walls, lined end to end with small data disks, each one bearing the label of a different star system. It only took about two minutes before he found it. This data disk was labeled as Unary System- Sol 7, and Theta smiled before pocketing it in his white jacket, planting a small explosive, and exiting the room.

Good. Got the data, now I just need to get out. His return was much harder than his initial entry, mostly due to the larger numbers of Hybrid squads patrolling the corridors. Again, annoying but expected. He had taken out a group of their security after all. He had moved too slow, and they had found the robotic corpses, sounding the alarm.

He still slipped past with minimal action, the Institute would be livid if he couldn't after all of those resources spent, and managed to find the hangar bay once more. It was just as he left it, a mess of metal and ship parts resulting from his dramatic entrance earlier. All but one of the ships had been reduced to scrap, his own.

It was small and sleek, built for maneuverability over defense or fire power. He hopped in, started up the warp engines, and plowed straight through the bay doors, the angular front of his ship tearing through the metal like a knife through a can. The inky black of space greeted him like an old friend, the dark veil dotted with small pinpricks of light. Not my  greatest mission, but good enough. Once he was far enough away to ensure he wouldn’t be shot down, he pressed a small trigger, activating the explosive charge he’d left. It would take quite a while for the institute to track him now, since all their star maps were either stolen or in singed heaps.

Theta took out the data disk, his excitement clear as a grin stretched his face, showing off his small feline fangs. I found it. This was the last data disk that he knew of that contained the coordinates home, at least, of the model his ship would accept. he could finally go back. A place he hadn’t seen for over ten years. Theta put the disk into his console, activated the autopilot, and watched as his ship’s navigational computer charted a course to Earth. It would take a while before he got there, so he leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes to rest up before he had more to do.

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Theta was woken by the vibrations of his seat. No, wait. The entire ship was rumbling, shaking as it was plunging toward a large and getting larger blue ball.

It only then occurred to him that he should have set a protocol to orbit earth when it got there. Well, too late for that.

His poor ship was caught in the planet’s gravitational pull and was beginning to accelerate toward the surface at a rapid pace. He was going to crash. As well as setting the ship to orbit, he’d forgotten to engage any failsafe protocols as well. Gamma’s mocking comments about his horrific flying skills came to mind as he saw a land mass beginning to get larger and larger in his front window.

He fortunately did not crash into the ground, being crushed flat in a tangled mass of metal and ship parts, but he did land right in the middle of the ocean, likely a mile or so from shore. It again occurred to him that maybe he should have had a plan beyond 'find a way home'. Luckily, his ship floated, so after diving beneath the blue abyss, it ascended quickly.

Theta stared out in awe at the watery environment around him on the way up. He’d never been under an ocean before, his cybernetics made him fearful to touch liquids, thinking they might interfere with the delicate parts and electronics within his body, so this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He didn’t see much, due to the darkness of the water, but what he did left him breathless.

Little fish were just swimming around, flitting through the water as if they were flying on small, scaled wings. It made him excited to explore his native planet’s features more.

The ship bobbed to the surface, and he opened the front hatch, eager to get out of the small space after hours of sitting still. It was then that he remembered oh, right. I’m still surrounded by water. He could just barely see the shore from his point of view. His vision was further hampered by the veil of night around him.

He had no idea what time it was, but he knew he had to act quickly. The large bright streak of light that had crashed into the ocean close to shore would surely get the attention of the authorities wherever he landed, and he really didn’t want to be interrogated on where he had come from. They could have his ship.

He made sure the little he did possess was secure in his small, waterproof bag, checked to see if his suit was sealed over any of his exposed cybernetics, and then dived into the dark blue water.

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It didn’t take long for him to get to shore, only about an hour of light swimming. Never thought I'd need those lessons, but here we are. He dragged himself away from the water, finding himself in an area filled with what looked like junk. He took note of this as he walked. Once he was established, he might have to come back here. It could have useful parts to repair his arm or other components.

Oh, right! My arm! He stopped and moved his right arm and hand through its full range of motion, ensuring no water had gotten into his suit and damaged it accidentally. The prosthetic whirred as it did, the small motors working at full capacity. It was fine. So he breathed a sigh of relief and kept going. From what he could tell, this was a beach in an urban area on the coast. He still had a lot to do. This was where he would need to recall his vague memories of childhood, of before the kidnapping, the experiments, the ‘enhancements’, the pain and sadness. He closed his eyes, and willed those foggy fragments dulled by time to the surface.

Let’s start with my name. Sad I even need to do this. This one was easy, coming up through the mirk quickly. My name is Ethan Gray.

Good, now for some harder stuff. Okay, now how about the state of the world? It took a bit more time before something came up. From what I know, most people have a power called a quirk. I have one too, but I can’t recall the name yet. There are people called heroes who fight those who would abuse their quirk for evil, called villains. Heroes are everywhere, and young me really enjoyed watching them on TV. Alright, that was helpful, he wouldn't be flying blind.

Now a bit more and he could go on. Okay, now some basics about my family. This one came hard, it took a long time of focus before what he wanted came up, like his mind was trying to keep the memories down for some unknown purpose. When they finally did surface, he got why. Mom, Dad… I’m alone. He already knew this, but to have it spelled out was sobering. He could feel a few tears gathering in his eyes, and he shut them tight. He’d never had time to really mourn them. But the past was the past. He opened his eyes again after a bit of time.

Okay, so as much as that hurts, it does make things easier. On to the other basics, we lived in America, and I was only about six when I was… His thoughts trailed off. No time to think about that. He had work to do. Theta...No. Ethan kept walking.

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It took him only a short time before he realized that this wasn’t America. The unfamiliar writing and seeming gibberish the people around him were speaking made sure he knew that.

He was lucky that he had gear with him that eased the shock. His glasses had a small computer that had immediately connected to the internet and began to decode the information he was seeing. It quickly told him that the language was Japanese.

So, he was in Japan. That's good to know. He vaguely recalled hearing about the island as a wacky place where a lot of heroes were concentrated, so at least he had some knowledge, though it might have been a bit warped since the only thing he'd seen from Japan had been some anime, and that had been some weird shit. Nobody even batted an eye at the strange kid dressed in a jacket and form-fitting bodysuit just wandering around staring at things. They had likely seen weirder, figuring he was probably a hero in training or something.

He had a lot of learning to do. After all, he had been away for a good bit of time and had missed a lot of pop culture and important events. It would make him stand out if he was clueless about basic events and media. But first, he needed normal clothes. People hadn’t paid him much mind yet, but eventually, they would start asking questions, since he wasn't accompanied by an older hero.

A quick theft (he had left some galactic credits but they were not likely to accept those here) later, he had his equipment stuffed in large duffel bag and looked fairly standard in jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a grey hoodie. Ethan ducked into an alleyway out of sight to get some rest and fell asleep on top of a dumpster.

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Ethan’s first night in Japan was repeated for about a week before he managed to get some shelter. It took about a month before he was fluent in Japanese. About two before he had some forged papers identifying him as an American immigrant and allowing him freedom to live on his own. Four before he had gathered enough Yen from some less than reputable activities to rent an apartment in Musutafu. And it took six months total before he finally wondered what comes next.

He was free, and finally home. Now what? The question echoed in his head as he sat on his couch, sipping coffee and watching the news. He had a few options, but what would he pick?

Looking back at his memories wasn't very helpful. About 12 years ago, when he was 4, the American government had reignited their space program, and all that young him had wanted to do was be an astronaut. Ethan had to laugh at the irony. Yeah, no. I've had enough space to last a lifetime.

He could keep doing what he was doing, but the criminal activities left a bad taste in his mouth. He had turned in his 'associates' when he had been payed every time, too, so word might get around and he would be out of work. 

He could try a normal job, blend in, become unremarkable. He didn’t even truly consider that. I was not made to be an office drone.

Then something on TV caught his eye. A lecture from the principal of UA High, Nedzu. He was talking about the importance of the next generation of heroes, and the responsibility he carries to help those kids reach their full potential, and to teach them that with power comes a responsibility to help those around them. Helping those around me? I can get behind that. Plus, UA is pretty prestigious, and I've been curious about school. 

Ethan's eyes gleamed. UA high, here I come.

Notes:

For reference, the Hybrid models here look roughly like commando droids from Star Wars, just blue and with ball at their joints. Theta's ship is also star wars inspired. For reference there, just look to Star Wars The Clone Wars season seven episodes five through eight. The Silver Eagle from those episodes is a good frame of reference for how his ship looks, just with a classic fighter jet cockpit. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The second chapter, which introduces the second of our two main characters, will be posted tomorrow. have a good night everyone!

Chapter 2: Memento Mori, Part 1

Summary:

An escape and a rebirth.

Notes:

Hi everyone! I'm back with the second chapter of My Place in the World. This chapter introduces us to Morgan, our second main character, but not the last of my OC's that will be in this fic. The rest are either side characters or villains. Anyways, the initial idea for this fic was centered on Morgan, but I later was working on ideas for Theta, had an epiphany, merged both ideas together, and created the current fic you're reading right now. This and the previous chapter were centered on one character, but later chapters will include multiple POV's, mostly from our two mains. Alright, enough blabbering, on to the chapter. Enjoy, and have a great day.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or any characters associated. I only own my OC's.

12:00 PM, March 28th. St. Michael’s Charity building, Sublevel 2

Midnight. Morgan had always enjoyed midnight.

The only people who were awake at this time were the guards, and they were not likely to disturb him. He was truly alone with his thoughts. He was the only person who could tell himself what to do at this hour. No Order member, just him.

But midnight was also symbolic. The changing of one day to another, the passing of one time to the next. A rebirth of sorts. It was fitting for tonight. After all, tonight would be his own rebirth, a shrugging of the chains that had held him down.

Despite his neutral face, Morgan felt anticipation building within him, like a bottle ready to burst from the pressure within. He pushed it down. No distractions. he needed to concentrate, or everything could fall through. Still, he couldn’t help the excitement. Two years of planning were coming to fruition tonight. He could finally live out his own dream. But first things first.

Step one. He gathered his rather small number of possessions, stuffing them hastily into a duffle bag he had discreetly bought on a mission, before donning his leathers and mask. He had removed any trackers beforehand, so they would take a while to realize he was missing. He tucked his folding scythe into an easily reachable pocket. He was doing this with stealth, but if worst came to worst, he would hew his way out. God help anyone who stood in his way.

His room’s door was not even locked. The fools had presumed his loyalty and had not even thought of the idea he would betray them. And why would they? He had acted the part of the perfect weapon. Of course, it had taken a long time to earn that trust, and had come at a bloody cost, so could he really say it was worth it?

Morgan shook his head. No time to think about that. Stick to the plan.

Sublevel two was fairly straightforward in construction, a simple square, with doors on either side of the linear hallways. There were only two guards on this floor, and they were easily evaded, their senses dulled by exhaustion and the darkness around them. They did not even notice as he raced past them. 

Of course, even alert they likely would not have noticed. Morgan could almost seamlessly blend into darkness, melting into it like he himself was but a shadow. Step two.

It did not take long before he found Mom’s room, luckily on the same floor as his own. She was waiting for him as he entered silently, her own bag not much larger than his. The Order was not keen on their valuable assets having material goods to distract them.

Upon seeing him, she smiled, her soft gentle smile that had always comforted him when he had been young. It still held that same warmth, but Morgan felt… less at seeing it than he had in those days’ past. He could not pinpoint why.

“Its good to see you again, sweety” she said in a quiet voice, looking behind him to see if the hallway was clear.

“Likewise,” he replied as his face softened a bit. Mother and son took a minute to embrace before they pulled apart, both faces deathly serious.

“You made it here fine?” Mom questioned, though she already knew the answer.

“The only good thing about all that training was that no one will see me if I do not want them to”. Mom frowned at that.

“I’m sorry baby, if only I had- “Morgan cut her off.

“it is not your fault mom, and I never want you to think that it was. Now let us go, we only have so much time”. Without another word he grabbed her hand, and with a look between them, the two stepped out into the hallway. Step Three.

They needed to move fast, but the way to the elevator was far slower than the initial rush to Mom’s room. Mom did not have the training he had, necessitating that he slow down, lest he leave her behind. But still, they made it after about ten minutes of careful navigation. He was the order’s most skilled assassin after all. The only way they would stand a chance at stopping him would be if they had all of the Four Horsemen together, and that was not likely after Chaos had escaped, leaving a facility full of bodies in her wake.

Both entered the elevator, the small light illuminating the hallway. They were lucky no guard was patrolling here, but that luck might run out any second. Morgan placed a hand on the wall of the elevator, a small tendril of black energy racing along the walls and ceiling, disintegrating any sensors or camera in the small space. Then, after small punch of the buttons, the metal box began to move upwards, carrying its occupants upward toward their new destiny. Step Four.

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The rest of the escape was uneventful, and they soon found themselves outside the building, walking fast to put distance between themselves, and the place that had served as Mom’s prison and Morgan’s hated employers.

They walked for most of the night through the city, eager to get as much distance as they could between them and The Order. Fortunately, Morgan had brought some yen, and managed to get a room in a small motel.

That first night, neither of them got a lot of sleep. It was mostly spent on guard, whispering, fearful of being discovered. But the night passed, and they found a new problem. The money Morgan had, snuck between missions and hidden throughout his room, would last them a few days in this motel, but they needed more money and a place to live more permanently.

That would not be a big problem. He was after all a trained assassin. He did not like having to turn to it, but if they wasted time, they would be found sooner rather than later. So unfortunately, The Reaper had work to do.

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Two missions, both relatively simple.

The targets themselves were scum, child traffickers who preyed on the weakest of society. He felt no regret dispatching them, but then he never seemed to. Guess the training had worked.

He did not bother with the customary flourishes, just tracking them down and eliminating them quickly. The money earned was enough to buy an apartment in the Musutafu area, highly populated, meaning it would be that much harder to find them, especially after a bit of hair dye and the bonus the man who had assigned the missions had thrown in. Forged papers giving the pair new identities and plenty of other very well-crafted paperwork to cover it up. That was welcome, and Morgan made note to keep track of the man. His skills could be useful later.

They would be fine for quite a while. The apartment they bought was small, but over the first two months they lived there, Mom filled it with things she had desperately missed, little ‘knick-knacks’ as she called them. She was eager to get up to speed on media she had missed in her captivity too, and both of them spent several nights binge watching movies and shows from all over the spectrum. He would be lying if he said it was not enjoyable to spend time with Mom outside of the short, predetermined visits The Order had set up. Things went well, all factors considered.

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Two more months passed, and Morgan found himself sitting in their living room, looking at the paper in his hand. This was it.

“Baby, are you okay?”

He turned sharply, seeing his mom entering the apartment, just having returned from her job at a flower shop down the street. They did not really need the money, but she needed to keep busy, and her quirk was ideal for any work involving plants.

“I am fine Mom, just thinking” Morgan replied, turning his attention back to the form and continuing his contemplation. Mom walked to him, peeking at the form over his shoulder. It was a form to apply for UA’s hero course.

“You want be a hero?” she asked, her voice betraying a bit of guilt. “If you’re thinking of doing this because I failed-”she was almost immediately interrupted 

“No, that is not it. I want to be someone people can feel safe around, someone people can look to and smile, feel comforted and safe around, but most importantly, I want to help people. To not help with my powers would be irresponsible”. He looked to her, his face as blank as he ever was, but his eyes conveying his determination, fiery and passionate like she had never seen in him before. She smiled and pulled him into a hug, one which he returned.

“Oh baby,” she said after pulling back, her eyes filled with pride and a few tears. “You'll be a great hero! And I’ll be with you every step of the way!” Morgan smiled, grateful for Mom. He was lucky to have her. The form was filled out and delivered the next day, and Morgan began to prepare for his next hurdle: the UA entrance exam, and if he passed, high school. 

Notes:

These end notes will serve to help with minor details that may not have been fleshed out in the chapter proper. Morgan's costume as The Reaper is basically black leathers with a hood and a bone white mask designed to look like a skull. The scythe he has is a folding blade type designed to be hidden under clothing and for ease of transport. Next chapter is the entrance exam! How will our leads fair in the battle against robotic villain? Who will they encounter along the way? Find out next chapter, likely to be posted next week.

Chapter 3: Child's Play

Summary:

Ethan and Morgan take on UA's entrance exam, and come away successful. Mostly.

Notes:

Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter of My Place In the World. Sorry about the late posting, since I said that the next chapter would be posted last week, but I procrastined on writing. This is by far my longest chapter, and I really enjoyed writing it. The entrance exam is a really fun moment to write. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own MY Hero Academia. I only own my OC's

8:50 AM, February 26th. UA High Front Gate

UA’s front gate was certainly impressive, Morgan would give it that. The entry way was massive, likely to accommodate students and staff of a large stature. That itself was not unusual in a world where you could have men who were eight feet tall. What made UA’s front gate stand out was what was hidden. There was a thick slab of metal ready to slam down should anyone without certain ID’s attempt to enter. They tried to be subtle, but he had seen the telltale signs and stopped to look at it.

Luckily for him, UA had created a way to get around this. A few days before the exam, every person who had applied received a temporary ID that would work only for today and expire as soon as a person left the campus. They were quite simple in design, listing just the name and examinee number. Morgan pondered his as he made his way through the campus to his testing room.

Akio Atsushi. That was the fake name he had listed on all of his papers, and thus that was the name listed. He would have to get used to it before he started schooling, lest he slip up and make not only his fellow students, but the staff suspicious as well.

As he approached his assigned room, Morgan felt his nerves begin to fray further as a feeling he had no reference for began to build in his stomach. Was this anxiety? He thought for now he should call it that. And he knew the cause.

He was not worried about the practical, he could do that in his sleep, but a standard high school test? He had never in his life had formal schooling. He had never even set foot in a normal school, unless you counted that one mission, which Morgan most certainly did not. His education had been haphazard and chaotic, likely due to The Order’s dismissal of topics they deemed irrelevant. Thus, he was worried his limited study and knowledge would doom him. He had tried to do some studying before today, but he had no idea what to expect, and Mom had been no help, having been captive for so long her memories of schooling were hazy at best. He hated not knowing what to expect. Certainty was a must, leave anything to chance and you were a dead man in his former line of work. The best are always brought down by little quirks of fate. He hoped beyond hope that this test was not one of those. 

He made it to the room with but a minute to spare, grabbing a test booklet and a pencil from the front before sitting in a seat in the middle. Most students were arriving now, with only a few already here, like a navy haired student in glasses who was sitting ramrod straight in his chair. The testees began to quickly fill up the room. Morgan kept his gaze on each one that entered.

Most were average and began to blur together, but two seemed to catch his eye. One was a round faced girl who saw him looking at her and gave a sweet smile and a wave. He waved back before looking away. She seemed nice. Was that what most girls were like? His only comparisons were Chaos and Plague, and he knew enough to guess that neither of them were typical.  He pondered this as he looked over at another student. What stood out to him was not the bird head, but the fact that the other teenager was wearing a black cape over normal clothes. Curious. Was that not uncomfortable in the summer and warm months? He guessed that he could not really judge, his own ensemble nearly all black save for the white logo on his shirt. Still, he observed the other for a bit, before turning away to focus. The proctor, as they were called had entered the room, signaling the true beginning of the test. He swallowed his anxiety. This would be his greatest challenge yet.

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11:00 AM, UA High Auditorium

All things considered, Ethan thought he had done pretty good on the written portion. He had to suppress the urge to snort through parts of it, some of the misconceptions in it hilarious. But then, he had a galactic level education so he supposed he should give the test makers a break.

Still, the complexity of the test had caught him off guard by a bit, not helped by the memories of primary school ‘tests’ he had, which seemed infantile in comparison. But he held on, and after hours he found himself waiting for the briefing on the practical. The sheets they had gotten on entrance had given a vague overview and had a diagram of opponents, but there were a couple of things unclear to him. And so, he waited.

The auditorium was pretty impressive, a large room easily able to seat a few thousand people. And that was prominently on display today, the hopeful students all packed together and filling it to near max occupancy. How much did this cost? He wondered as looked around at the faces of those around him. Some of them might be his future classmates after all. He had been busy with this when he heard a jingle and then an obnoxiously loud voice from the very front of the auditorium.

“WHATS UP UA CANDIDATES! THANKS FOR TUNING IN TO ME, YOUR SCHOOL DJ! COME ON AND LEMME HEAR YA!”

This was followed by silence as many were trying to shake off their ringing ears, most especially Ethan. He had sat near the front, so the Voice Hero’s shout had hit him right where it hurt. He had forgotten that most of the teachers here were heroes. He probably should have realized that UA’s official announcer would be handling something like this. Ethan looked to the front, concentrating on the explanation despite the minor pain in his ears.

Apparently, they would be having 10 minute mock battles against faux villains, the robots listed on the sheet. He grinned. He loved destroying robots.

The poor hero tried to hype up the audience repeatedly throughout his exposition, but they never reciprocated his excitement. Tough crowd. Though maybe some were just rendered deaf. This guy know about volume control? He shook that thought off, concentrating on the briefing. Seemed simple enough, though he noticed something off. Present Mic had said that there were 3 types of villains when the sheet listed four. A clerical error? He was going to call out and ask when he was beaten to it by a blue haired kid some rows back. Ethan watched incredulously as the glasses wearing student, in front of thousands of eyes, seemed to chew out a pro hero over what he thought was a mistake, all the while moving his arms in stiff, strange movements. Geez. This guy seems fun. Still, it did answer his question, though he felt a bit bad for the poor green haired kid who Blue Hair had also called out. Sure, his muttering was a little unsettling, he could hear it from clear down here, but there was no need to humiliate someone like that, especially since it was clear he wasn’t used to the spotlight.

But he digressed. The 4th type of villain was apparently worth 0 points, an obstacle to avoid with no reward to taking it down. He pondered the point of such a thing, along with the danger of the test. It’s not like he was worried about himself, he had spent the better part of two years killing them so he could handle any scrap heaps a high school threw at him, but who came up with the brilliant idea to pit amateurs against robots that could likely seriously injure them? From what he could judge, most of these guys had no real combat experience, even if they had training, and only a basic handle on quirk control.

That does explain why UA has such a low acceptance rate. They are only taking a few of the thousands here, likely the most powerful or creative of the bunch. Those who can handle it deserve to be here. Still, they better have medical staff or prepare to be sued up the wazoo. Ethan had been so caught up in his thought process he almost didn’t catch it as Present Mic concluded his explanation and directed the examinees to clear out and head to the busses that would go to the testing grounds. No time to ponder. Ethan began following the rest of the crowd to head to Testing Ground C.

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The bus ride would supposedly only take 10 minutes, but Ethan found himself bored after only 2. His seat partner, a girl dressed in what he guessed was punk attire, was nice enough but had almost immediately chosen to ignore him, instead preferring to listen to music on her phone. It did not take long for him to become restless. He wasn’t someone who dealt well with sitting still. He needed something to do. So, he decided to pick on his fellow bus rider.

“Hey. Heeeeeeeyyyyy. Anyone home?”. This was punctuated by him snapping his fingers near her ears. Punk Girl didn’t respond, though he could definitely tell she was rolling her eyes. This continued for about a minute before he stopped, a bitt miffed. He began to think of other ways to get her attention. Then he noticed her ears. The earlobes were very elongated, ending in what looked like headphone jacks. That was pretty cool. Ethan’s impulsivity got the best of him, and with extreme speed, he flicked one of the ends.

Punk Girl turned toward him, an annoyed expression on her face. “Ow! What was that for?!” she questioned, rubbing the tip of her earlobe. It must have been more sensitive than he thought. He winced.

“Sorry, didn’t realize it would hurt that much, just wanted to get your attention”.

“Well, you have it now, so what is it?”

Ethan looked over to her phone, curious. “You’re listening to music, right? What kind?”.

Punk Girl stiffened a bit, probably not used to talking about it. Was she embarrassed? “It’s nothing, just a bit of rock. Why?” She muttered, looking away.

“Just curious. This bus ride is taking quite a while. Can I have a listen?” Ethan leaned closer, trying to peek at her phone screen. This was ill advised, one the jacks immediately poking him in the eye. The jacks were quite sharp, like small knives, and felt as if they were metal. Needless to say, it hurt. He immediately backed off, rubbing the now sore area. “Okay, okay. I get the message. I’ll try not to intrude. But that is one pretty interesting quirk. What else can you do?”. The girl gave him a weird look. It struck Ethan that he didn’t even know her name. They hadn’t ever been introduced. He mentally facepalmed. “It strikes me that I may have acted a bit strangely”.

Punk Girl snorted. “A bit?”

“Sorry, I’m... not used to talking to others my age”. It wasn’t a total lie. He hadn’t talked to others his age for at least a few years. Too busy hunting down the Institute’s last data disk for the Sol-7 system to make friends. It probably screwed him up a bit. “I guess I owe you at least my name, since you had to deal with that. Ethan Gray, good to meet you.”

Punk Girl smirked slightly. “Yeah, your lack of tact is pretty obvious, but I appreciate the honesty. My name’s Kyoka Jirou. Guess it’s good to meet you too. Sorry about your eye.”

“No, its fine, I had it coming. So anyways, back to your quirk. It has to do with those earphone jacks, right?”

Jirou seemed to absentmindedly play with one, twirling it around her finger as she considered a response. “Yeah, I can extend them and plug them in to things and use them for scouting, I guess”.

“Cool! That sounds great for a hero! So, can you also like attack? I mean, you got me pretty good, so I imagine it’s possible” Ethan said, still rubbing the sore spot.

 Jirou turned her head, looking away as if embarrassed. “Uh, yeah. If I stab something, I can sort of channel vibrations into it” she posited, her jacks moving around as if she was gesturing with them. Ethan’s eyes gleamed.

“That is so cool!” he burst out, surprising Jirou, who seemed taken aback.

“Cool?” She questioned, her cheeks slightly pink at the sudden praise.

“yeah, I mean, my quirk is pretty useful, but I wish I had a flashier one like yours!” He grinned, enthusiastically gesturing with his left arm, swinging out and hitting the student in the seat across from him. They cried out in protest. He ignored them.

Jirou seemed bewildered by his enthusiasm, though it may be his injuring of the other bus rider. But soon afterward, she offered a small smile “So what is your quirk, since you seem so curious about mine?”

Ethan’s enthusiasm dipped a bit, but he kept up the pace, launching into an animated explanation. “Okay then. My quirk is called Cat’s Eye” he gestured to his eyes, the pupils a slitted feline shape with silver sclera. “It comes with a bit of physical enhancement. I’m a bit more agile, I always land on my feet, and I also have an aversion to water” the last part was said as a joke, but it was pretty serious, though it was due to his cybernetics rather than his quirk. “But my main ability is that I can see into the future”.

Jirou balked at that. “And you say that’s ‘not useful’?”

“Well, it’s limited to about 30 seconds, and if I push past that I get migraines,” Ethan said, rubbing his forehead as if he was remembering one. “Plus, I have to rely on my own combat skills to pull off anything it shows me. And again, it’s not flashy.”

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short, you know,” Jirou said. Ethan was going to respond when both felt the bus stop. He looked over to his seat partner.

“Ah, it seems we’re here. Thanks for the talk Jirou. Good luck, and I’ll see you on the field, and hopefully when you make it in. Bye!” Ethan waved as he got up to exit the bus, Jirou waving back with a small smile.

Well, all things considered that went well. Did I just make a friend? Ethan Allowed himself a grin as he headed to group up at the gate to the testing ground. This was not what I expected. The testing ground was a full-blown faux city. Geez, what kind of budget does this school have? His hand closed around his sabre. Glad I was able to clear this with the school. Then again, they seem pretty lax with their weapons policy. Is that a rocket launcher? He had retrieved it from the bus’s luggage compartment after getting off, safe and sound in its leather sheath.

There were quite a few examinees at the gates, ready for the test, at least a few hundred, if not more. He spotted Jirou in the crowd pretty easily, she looked pretty normal compared to the rest of the crowd, who seemed to some in every shape and size. She looked a bit annoyed, being chattered at by a pink skinned girl with horns. Ethan did a double take. She looked incredibly similar to a few of the species he had met crisscrossing the galaxy. A Saldian maybe? But that was for later, though he did feel a bit bad for poor Jirou. First him, now Pink. Oh well, gotta focus!

He probably had a bit of time before the beginning, so he began a bit of stretching. He needed to be limber for this. He went through a few of his normal stretches, breathing deeply to center himself. But just as he was touching his toes, he heard Present Mic loudly call out the beginning of the exam. He straightened up in an instant, drew his sabre, and leapt into action. Disappointing that I couldn’t do my routine, but it’s go time!

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11:30 AM, UA High Auxiliary Facility, Testing Ground D

As soon as he heard the signal go off, Morgan was in motion, leaving behind his momentarily stunned fellow examinees. Ten minutes. That was a generous amount of time for a test like this, but he supposed amateurs would need it. In a short time, he was confronted with his first faux villain, a three pointer, judging by the design. He did not skip a beat, grabbing the metal staff from his back and channeling his quirk into it. A light veil of black surrounded it, and he swung it, aiming for its middle. As if cut by a blade, the robotic assailant was severed clean in half, the necrotic energy disintegrating anything it contacted. It fell, both halves landing cleanly a few inches apart.

Morgan Agawa, formerly the villain known as The Reaper. His quirk? Necrosis. He can channel black energy that drains strength and disintegrates objects, but overuse can seriously harm his body.

One down, and three points earned. But he would need a lot more to pass. Luckily, he spotted a couple grouped together down the street, with no other examinees around. Morgan smirked. This was child’s play.

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11:35 AM, UA High, Staff Monitoring Room

As usual on entrance exam day, the entrance exam room was packed, almost the entirety of the staff having shown up, eager to get a look at the new crop of potential students. Most of them were staring with rapt attention at the monitors in the front, displaying a live feed of the practical in progress. Comments would fly now and then, little things about what on of the kids did, but it was surprisingly silent for this group. Aizawa stayed in the back, leaning against one of the walls, pretending to sleep even as he kept a close eye on the action. He was one of the homeroom teachers, he would be negligent to ignore it, even if he still wanted sleep more than anything. Why did the exam have to take place on a Sunday?

At least this batch seemed more promising than the last. From a Blue haired student who was wrecking villains up with engine powered kicks, to the more creative, like an invisible girl using her stealth skills to sneak up on and disable the robots or a purple haired kid gunking up the exhaust ports with sticky orbs. He even saw a lot of rescue points, as with a black-haired boy acting as a shield to other students, keeping them from being injured, to another black-haired boy shooting out what looked like tape to pull a fellow examinee out of the way of some falling rubble. Impressive for just the entrance exam.

Aizawa yawned. He might have to consider rethinking a few of his plans if the whole lot that ended up in his class had this kind of potential.  He might even have a larger than usual group. More work. Of course, they could still be expelled. One good showing didn’t mean they were hero material. It was hard work, and if they couldn’t handle it? They could head out the door. He pondered this as he looked over his fellow faculty.

He noticed very quickly that All Might was distinctly focused on one test area in particular. No, not one test area, one examinee in particular. A green-haired boy who had zero points and had spent the entire time running around panicked. The skeletal man seemed anxious, his sunken eyes always focused on the kid as he seemed more and more sad as time went on. A protégé, perhaps? Aizawa made note to keep an eye on that one if he got in. Might be a problem if a teacher started showing favoritism.

Two of the kids did catch his eye from the start, though. One was noticeable for his efficiency. The serious looking blonde acted fast, favoring quick, brutal strikes to end a fight as quickly as possible, his quirk disintegrating the mechanical villains with blasts of black energy. He moved with the cool, assured confidence of a veteran pro hero. Someone who had seen many a battle and come out stronger for it.

The other was a silver haired boy who seemed the other’s opposite in temperament. He had a wide smile on his face, flipping from robot to robot, cutting wires and joints to disable them before swiftly executing the faux villains. He didn’t even always do that, sometimes just leaving a paralyzed target for a fellow examinee. He fought similar to him but possessed the attitude of someone like Present Mic or All Might.

One of his patented unnerving grins made its way onto Aizawa’s face. If he got in, he was definitely snatching this kid up. Even if it meant dealing with another Mic. He could tell the boy would take to his training like a duck to water.

Aizawa watched as the kid ran toward another examinee, purple haired girl who was in the process of taking out two faux villains with what looked like her earlobes. Unusual, but not to strange. She didn’t seem to notice a third faux villain approaching from behind, ready to seriously injure her. The silverette jumped, using one of the front two robots as a springboard to launch himself over the girl and slam his sabre into the head of the lumbering threat. The three-pointer fell to the ground just as the girl turned, seeing why the boy had pulled such a maneuver. He gave her a thumbs up, which she returned with a nod, before running off. Impressive.

Aizawa looked over to the other staff, who had just awarded the kid ten rescue points for that little maneuver after a short discussion, and then he noticed Nedzu. He was smiling.

Looks like it was time for the true test. Nedzu pressed a button and the testing grounds began to shake.

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11:38 AM, UA High Auxiliary Test Facility, Testing Ground D

Morgan had stopped counting, but he was sure he had passed already. By his own estimate, about eight minutes had passed since the test began. Two minutes left. Good, he felt he was reaching his limit. He could see that the veins in his arms had turned black up to his elbow. If he kept pushing, he would start to seriously hurt himself.

Morgan could already feel a dull ache making itself known in his chest and arms. He had overdone it, gone too fast. This test had a set time. He could not finish it early, like he did on his missions. He needed to lay off his quirk for a while.

It was then that the ground started to shake. It was as if something incredibly large was slowly coming closer. He saw it mere seconds later, as a mass of panicked examinees passed him by, fleeing from the massive robot that was nearly three stories tall. He turned to head the same way as the others, rest, maybe take out a few more faux villains. But as he turned, he heard a few noises behind him.

Who could still be behind him? He turned back. There was a blonde boy wandering around behind him, repeatedly giving the air a thumbs up with a dopey expression on his face. He was seemingly oblivious to the large robot coming toward him fast. Damn it all.

Before his mind could process the situation, Morgan was moving at a full run toward the other boy, who was pointing at him and spouting gibberish. He reached him, grabbing the fellow blonde by his shirt and pushing him behind him. He considered his options. He could run, dragging the other teenager with him, but in the state he was in, he would act as deadweight, slowing them both down and allowing the massive villain to catch them, rendering the entire point of his coming here moot, injuring two people instead of one. Morgan was at risk too.

He ran the gambit of scenarios, but most ended badly. There was one option he could see as the best. This thing needed to be destroyed. Morgan held out both arms, putting one hand on top of the other, and aimed for the top half of the zero pointer. He concentrated, building energy. The other boy had noticed the danger now and was yelling out in unintelligible terror. Morgan shut his voice out. He was going to regret this. The ache in his chest turned to a stinging sensation across his upper torso, as if he had a bad sunburn as the feeling of building energy intensified. The zero pointer was nearly on top of them. The energy reached a crescendo. Morgan opened his eyes, and released, whispering out a name.

“Collect Call”

A massive blast of necrotic energy burst from Morgan’s outstretched hands, disintegrating the entire upper half of the zero pointer. At the same time, pain exploded across his entire body, the stinging turning to a severe burn, as if he was on fire with no way to put it out.

The zero pointer slumped, its remains falling with a loud crash, just short of crushing the two boys. Morgan smiled, even as his vision began to blur. He coughed into his hand, which came away with a bit of red. He knew this would happen. He had reached his limit, then threw himself a thousand miles past it. He thought he heard Present Mic call the end of the exam, but it did not matter, he was going to pass out soon.

His knees buckled, and Morgan fell. The ground was rushing up toward him, but it stooped, as someone caught him. He heard a voice ask if he was alright, and Morgan recognized the blonde boy he had saved before everything went black.    

 

Notes:

Yeah, this chapter goes a bit into Morgan's quirk. He is incredibly powerful and well trained, but his quirk could potentially seriously harm him. He coughs up blood due to the damage starting as internal, affecting his lungs first. It damages and eventually just kills tissue, turning it necrotic, hence its name, Necrosis. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next time, hopefully next week.
P.S: I am going back and reformatting the first two chapters, so I would recommend rereading if you didn't enjoy.

Chapter 4: First Day Jitters, Part 1: Determination! The Quirk Apprehension Test

Summary:

The students have their first (not really) day at UA. Ethan shows off, Morgan is serious, and Eraserhead just knows this batch is going to be trouble.

Notes:

Hey everyone, sorry for not updating for so long. I've had a nasty case of writer's block for a good while, so this chapter took a while, though as a result its my longest yet. I hope you enjoy as we finally get into the meat of the first season. I have so many ideas for upcoming chapters and hopefully I will upload on a more consistent schedule. Hope you have a great day!
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or its characters. I only own my OC's.

2:00 pm, February 26th. UA High Nurse’s Office.

Consciousness came jarringly quickly. Morgan jerked up into a sitting position in seconds, his danger instincts going haywire, a ball of necrotic energy formed in his hand as he scanned the room for possible dangers. It took a few more seconds before he finally realized there was no danger, and then dismiss the energy in his hand.

He was fine. There was no danger. The Order could not hurt him here, not without being exposed. He began to actually scan the room. This looked like the UA Nurse’s Office. Collect Call’s effects must have scared the faculty enough to warrant keeping him here. He wondered what that may have looked like. He had never seen the effects before, all he knew was that it was incredibly painful, and he only lasted a minute after before he passed out.

Speaking of, how long had he been out for? Morgan looked to the side of his cot, seeing a small clock. It was currently two in the afternoon. He had been out for more than two hours. Better than expected. Normally collect call would render him unconscious for at least half of a day. Either his control was improving, or the zero pointer was weaker than he thought, requiring less energy to destroy.

“Well, it appears you are awake young man. You gave the poor boy you saved quite the scare, you know.” The voice was kindly and indicated age, perhaps someone in their seventies or eighties. The source became apparent as a small elderly woman in a costume waddled into view. She looked like what Morgan imagined a grandmother would, as she came over to his cot, checking him over. “All your injuries are healed, though I would advise you to rest for today, and try not to perform a stunt like that one again.” She said, concern visible as she seemed to be recalling his rescue. He did not tell her that he would do it again if it meant saving someone else. Compared to him, other lives were far more valuable than his health.

“Thank you, Miss…. Recovery Girl, correct? My mom talked about you; she really admires the work you do,” Morgan said as he slowly stood up onto his feet and inspected himself. Other than some stiffness and feeling drained, it was just as Recovery Girl said; all traces of injury were gone from his body. No residual pain like usually happened with Collect Call.

“That’s nice to hear. It’s good for young people to take an interest in caring for others,” Recovery Girl replied, a sweet smile on her wrinkled face.

“My mother is thirty-four” Morgan stated, confusion evident. This did not faze Recovery Girl, who after briefly writing a few things down, released him to go home. He was lucky to leave now. No more eyes than necessary since the school had emptied.

Recovery Girl seemed nice enough, though he had no idea what these ‘gummies’ he had been given before release were for. A medicine perhaps? They could be a candy, but he thought that doctors gave out lollipops, not squishable confection shaped like a bear.

He memorized the location of the Nurse’s office as he left. If he were accepted, he would likely need to become acquainted with Recovery Girl, since Necrosis’ damage to his body would cause him to need medical care on a regular basis, though his natural regeneration could mitigate that.

All issues aside, he could only wait now. Morgan had given his all, and acceptance was highly probable, though if he was rejected, he considered other ways of achieving his goals. But only time would tell.

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8:25 am, April 11th. UA High, Classroom 1-A entrance.

Ethan though he had handled news of his acceptance well. He had most definitely not screamed and tried to punch the hologram of All Might that popped out from his letter, leaving a sizable dent in the wall that he then covered with a hero poster. Nope. Cool as a Quillan.

The next few weeks were a blur of shopping for school supplies (I really miss hard light pens), designing a hero costume (definitely no capes!), and using his previous identity and connections to engage in vigilantism. He was busy, to put it lightly.

And now, the long-awaited day had arrived. He finally started his 1^st year at UA High. My path. One I chose to forge, not the one the Institute Shaped me for. Boy would this piss them off. Their ‘asset’ thinking for itself and choosing to be the opposite of what they wanted. Just that thought brought a smirk not his face. Screw them.

The door to the Classroom was huge, hard to miss as you walked down the hall, a big 1-A painted on it. UA certainly doesn’t do things small. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone this big on earth. But who am I to judge? He pushed open the door to survey the room inside. A fairly standard classroom, with 21 desks, arranged in 4 rows of 4 each, with an additional row of five in the very back. Not many other students, but then, he was 5 minutes early. Most of the students should be in soon.

The students that were there looked like the type to be early as he looked in from the doorway. About five in total, who with one exception, resembled serious model students. A blonde boy with a large fleshy tail sat in the front, a little uncomfortable with his chair. In the back, a black-haired girl with a ponytail sat next to a boy with split, candy cane hair and a scar on the left side of his face. He seems fun. Blue Hair from the Auditorium was sitting one row ahead of Ponytail and Candy cane, looking ahead stiffly. The last classroom occupant was seated one desk from Blue Hair, a bird-headed student who had his eyes closed, seeming deep in thought.

A seating chart was at the podium, and Ethan found he was Seat No. 16, the seat on the side opposite of Blue Hair. He made his way over and sat down, content to wait for the classroom to fill up. That directive lasted about a minute, and Ethan decided to go with some introductions.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Ethan said as he turned to face Ponytail and Candy Cane, a smile on his face.  Ponytail was a bit taken aback by his straightforward approach, but she quickly regained composure. Candy Cane didn’t even acknowledge him.

“Oh. Hello. I am doing quite well today. You?”

“I’m fine. Just wanted to get to know my classmates. Ethan Gray, good to meet you, and I hope we get along.”

“I am Momo Yaoyorozu. It is good to meet you too, Gray.” Yaoyorozu said, a small smile on her face. his enthusiasm was infectious as always.

Yaoyorozu seemed nice if a bit formal. He hadn’t seen her name anywhere on the rankings shown in his acceptance letter. A recommendation student maybe?

“Are you a recommendation student?” His question came out rather bluntly, her eyes widening a bit. So, I was right.

“Yes, how did you know?” Yaoyorozu questioned.

“Lucky guess. And what about you Mr. Serious?” Ethan said, pointing at Candy Cane, who looked up, regarding him with a cold expression and heterochromatic eyes devoid of any kind of warmth. Ethan tried not to let his discomfort show. “What’s your name?”

Candy Cane’s response was short. “Shoto Todoroki,” was his answer before Todoroki resumed whatever he had been doing before. Probably brooding, given his general temperament. Todoroki, that name is familiar, but where have I heard it?

Ethan kept his pondering to himself “Alright then. Good to meet you?” He was bewildered, but with his introductions done there, he turned back around.

He had noticed earlier, but during his conversation, the classroom had begun filling up as students arrived. He waved at Jirou as she entered, and she offered a wave back.

His classmates were quite…interesting. They all had a bit of crazy to them, the alien girl from the entrance exam, a kid with six arms, a rock headed boy who seemed shy, and is that a floating uniform? And those were just the ones that were strange in appearance. Many seemed eccentric in personality too. A pair of blondes entered who seemed directly opposed in personality, one serious with a neutral face as the other chattered away at him enthusiastically.

“Seriously man, thanks. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what would have happened. And you were so cool too! I mean, I saw you before you rescued me, and you kicked some serious butt!” The brighter blonde said as he gestured around. The serious blonde seemed a little taken aback by the praise, confusion evident in his face.

“You are welcome and thank you. It was nothing, we are training to be heroes”.

“I guess, but that super move you did was next level! You blew that robot’s head right off!”

The discussion continued for a while as both found their seats and parted ways. Serious Blonde sat right behind Ethan, who turned to face him with a smile.

“Hey, I’m Ethan Gray. Good to meet you.”

Serious Blonde’s Face was carefully neutral as he spoke. “Akio Atsushi. Same” he was silent after that. Simply staring. Looks like Todoroki isn’t the only one who has bad social skills. Ethan turned back around. Atsushi clearly didn’t know what to say, so he decided to back off. He was about to turn to Bird Head when a disturbance began in the relatively quiet classroom.

Another blonde, this one with spiky hair, had entered and sat down, putting his feet up. Blue Hair took offense and with inhuman speed had made his way to Spiky Blonde’s desk to lecture him on etiquette. Ethan caught Blue Hair’s name from this. Tenya Iida. Spiky Blonde was dismissive throughout the discussion, even as Iida’s protests grew louder and despite the bluenette’s attempts at conciliation. His responses were arrogant, and Ethan got the sense that this was the kind of kid who had almost never been challenged.

But that could wait. The classroom was nearly full, and their teacher still wasn’t here. Don’t instructors typically arrive before students? Why be late? It was almost time for class to begin. There were only two desks not taken up, and he saw the last two students entering.

It was Green Hair and a round faced girl, who was talking to him excitedly. He’d apparently saved her during the entrance exam, which was impressive given his general look and demeanor didn’t exactly scream hero candidate. The poor kid was overwhelmed by the presence of the other students as they stood in the doorway.

Iida had noticed them and to add to Green Hair’s embarrassment, went straight up to the two gave a speech to him and called him a model student, apologizing for calling him out in the auditorium. Green hair placated Iida before introducing himself. Izuku Midoriya, Huh?

Suddenly, a voice came from behind the doorway trio.

“If you’re here to make friends, you can pack up and leave.” The Trio turned toward the source, which Ethan strained to see, but couldn’t from his seat, and were surprised by whatever they saw. Seconds later, a tired looking man in a black jumpsuit and scarf pushed past them, dragging a yellow sleeping bag behind him, and stood at the podium at the front. This guy is our teacher? He looks like he’ll collapse from exhaustion.

The doorway trio followed Insomniac and seated themselves quickly, with Midoriya seated in front of Ethan. He tapped the greenette on the shoulder, and smiled when he turned around.

“Hi, names Ethan Gray. You’re Izuku Midoriya, right? Good to meet ya.”

“O-oh, right, good to meet you too, Gray.” Was Midoriya’s response, the poor kid obviously not used to friendly faces, of whom he had seen at least three.

Insomniac stood at the front slouched, and once the last students had been seated, continued talking, introducing himself.

“I’m Shouta Aizawa, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher.” Aizawa pointed to a few stacked boxes in the corner near the front. Ethan could see inside, and the boxes were filled with what looked like sports uniforms. “Put these on and meet me out at the athletic field.” Then he walked out casually, though he did leave the sleeping bag.

Ethan was one of the first to go up and grab one of the uniforms. Man, blue is not my color.

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8:45 AM, UA High Athletic Field

Morgan stood straight as the other students lined up in front of their teacher, who he could not shake the feeling he had met before. What was it that made him think that? No matter, that could be settled later.

They stood in front of what looked to be some sort of pitching diamond. Did Aizawa intend to test their athletic capabilities? It made sense when Morgan thought it through. Heroes were going to be physically active every day, so it would do good to see where each student currently was.

Morgan had no problems in that regard. Assassin training was brutal, and he still had numerous scars on his body from it, but it made sure he was in top condition at all times. He had continued training even after escaping the order, so he was still quite capable, even if he lowered the intensity at Mom’s insistence.

Once everyone had lined up, Aizawa promptly began explaining what was happening, dismissing concerns about the entrance ceremony when Iida raised them. Morgan gave a small smile at that. He had never been the type for pomp and flash. He had left that particular area to Fear.

Aizawa’s voice cut through his pondering. Had he been speaking while Morgan was lost in his thoughts?

“Akio Atsushi”

His cover name. Morgan stepped forward and responded with a simple “yes?” At the same time, he could feel the eyes of the class on him. Maybe curiosity? He had never truly examined his features before, but he knew he stood out by a few things. He may have been half Japanese, but his European heritage definitely did make itself known, and Aizawa had used a fully Japanese name. he should have done a once over on those papers to ensure this kind of issue did not happen. What was stranger than having the entire class’s eyes on him, however, was some of the reactions from his female classmates. They looked at him with…. He did not know how to describe it. Some were slightly red in the face, maybe they were scared and hot? It was warm today…

Aizawa’s voice once again snapped Morgan back to his current situation as his teacher continued talking.

“You scored the highest on the entrance exam, even nearing a school record.” Despite the seeming indifference, Morgan saw a flash in Aizawa’s eyes. Maybe he was impressed?

But that was less important as Morgan felt someone’s glare burning into his head. He turned, curious as to who this malice belonged. It turned out to be an angry looking blonde. He was quiet for now, but Morgan could feel the rage coming off of him. He had likely surpassed him in the exam, and from a quick analysis, he hated that. This blonde was likely second place, Katsuki Bakugou, who he had beat by just three villain points and forty rescue points.

Anyway, what did his placing have to do with anything? His query was answered only moments later, as Aizawa questioned “what was your previous record for softball throws in middle school?” he was holding what looked like a softball with a small sensor on it.

Morgan was thrown for a minute. His records had never listed something like that, so he had to improvise.

“70.25 Meters.”

Aizawa quirked an eyebrow, but did not question it, tossing Morgan the softball and signaling him to step into the pitching diamond.

“Now try it using your quirk.”

“Is that it?” Morgan questioned.

“Just stay inside the diamond” was his only response.

Aizawa was quite blunt, was he not? Morgan decided he like the man already. He faced forward, breathing deeply as he came up with a strategy. He had several ways to approach this, and he knew which would be the most effective.

Morgan concentrated, breathed in, and let the necrotic energy course through him. It made him feel light, like he had all the energy in the world, as his physical abilities were enhanced. He swung his hand forward as he pitched, and just as the ball released, a burst of energy exploded outward, rocketing it far out of view. Hopefully, he did not disintegrate the tracker.

Aizawa looked to his small measuring device, nonplussed before holding it out, letting the entire class see his distance of…

“708 Meters?! Are you kidding me?!”

“Oh man, that was so cool!”

“His quirk must be quite powerful.”

The whispers of the class were insistent and surprised as they all seemed amazed. Right. They were normal teenagers, likely not used to seeing throws like that. He needed to keep that in mind.

Aizawa was already explaining the rest of their purpose as Morgan stood back in line. As he had surmised, it was a series of athletic tests, but with the caveat that they would have no limits on quirk use. So not just an assessment of raw athletic skill, but also a test to see the handle they had on their quirks. Morgan felt a smile creep onto his face. It might be enjoyable to let loose a bit.

Some of the others expressed Morgan’s thoughts out loud, to which Aizawa gave them a cold look.

“So, this looks like fun, huh?”

The words cut right into every student, instantly silencing them as they looked to the man who seemed completely different than he had been mere seconds earlier.

“You have three years here to become a hero, you think it’s going to all be games and playtime?”

Aizawa’s cruel grin shook even Morgan, who stepped back on instinct.

“Idiots. Today you will compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately.”

Interesting. Could he be telling the truth? Maybe, but Morgan did not think it likely. The entrance exam already had a ludicrously high failure rate, so would they really expel the few that had passed so quickly? Surely the fact that they made it here was enough proof of potential. This had to be a lie. But if so, why?

Morgan looked to the other students. Aside from a serious black-haired girl and Gray, who was himself looking around, offering a short wave with his gloved hand as Morgan looked to him, the others seemed to be believing their teacher’s statement one hundred percent. The round-faced girl he had seen Midoriya talk to even stepped forward, proclaiming how ‘unfair’ this was. Aizawa quickly shot her down.

“And you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No. The world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try to combat that unfairness. If you want to be a pro you will have to push yourself to the brink. The next three years UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond. Plus Ultra style. Show me it’s no mistake that you’re here.”

All around Morgan saw faces tighten to looks of pure determination. He even felt his own fist clench involuntarily. Ah. So that was the purpose. Well, he would not want to disappoint, would he? He would show them. He would be a hero. No matter what stood in his way.

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Test 1: 50m Dash

Aizawa sure knows how to make a speech. Even I was ready to give it my all after that, and I know his little trick. Ethan smirked at that as he watched his classmates prepare for the first event. Simple to start. 50 Meters. Go as fast as you can. Easy as pie. Man, I miss pie. I really need to get one.

They were tested in pairs of two, and already a few of the others were treating it like a race. Spiky Blonde was glaring right at Midoriya as they were assigned as a pair. They seem like they know each other. Childhood friends, maybe? then again, I don’t think I would give a childhood friend that kind of murderous look.

Ethan was last up, and alone, since he had drawn as number 21, so he had the full show of his classmate’s quirks. A good opportunity for analysis.

Blue hair had engines on his legs, letting him go fast to get one of the faster times right out of the gate. Seems pretty useful. He’d been drinking some juice a little before the test, so maybe that was his fuel? Round face seemed to make things lighter, as she helpfully exposited at the start line. Seems kind of lame, but ok. A few of the others had quirks that had no way to be used for movement, including poor Midoriya, and so had to rely on their own physical abilities, getting mostly average scores.

The rest showed quite a lot of creativity, blasting across on lasers or explosions, slid along on acid or ice, and did Yaoyorozu just pull a moped out of her chest?! By far his favorite was a black haired hid with weird elbows, who on start shot out tape from them, grabbed the finish line tripod, and yanked it past the start line, finishing even faster than Iida with a nod from Aizawa.

Finally, Ethan was up, the last man. He stood stretching at the start line before he grinned. 50 Meters? Easy. Let’s put on a show. On start he was going, performing a forward flip, and landing on his hand, before bushing himself up into a backflip and repeating the process again and again to the amazement of his fellow students. He cleared in 2.84 seconds, just missing Elbows’ time. Not My best, but it’ll do.

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Test 2: Grip Strength

He was in a pickle here. Ethan was not what you would normally call strong, but he could be under certain circumstances. This was apparent as they moved to the next test. Aizawa had moved them to an indoor gym for this test. Everyone had been given a device to test their grip strength and Ethan took hi time observing his classmates. A few this time stood out.

The multi-armed student was of course scoring high, with a red-haired boy doing pretty well along with a Big lipped kid… Eating a cupcake? Why does he get food? Ethan whined to himself as he kept looking. He heard a cry of surprise and looked to see Yaoyorozu had broken her device with…a Clamp?! Seriously!? What’s next, a cannon in the ball throw?

He was so focused on his classmates, he only noticed something off with his own device when he heard a small beep. He looked down, before startling as he saw he had gripped it in his right hand, squeezing with an approximate force of 891 kilograms. That would be suspicious. Lucky no one noticed, otherwise I would have a long explanation to give. Ethan quickly switched hands and squeezed, getting a much more believable score of 64 kilograms. Crisis averted.

It was only after he’d returned the device did he notice he had dented it. Hopefully Aizawa wouldn’t notice, though he knew that was a slim chance.

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Test 5: Ball Throw

I WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE CANNON! Ethan yelled in his head as Yaoyorozu stepped back. But he didn’t have time to whine more, even if he wanted to. He was up. He took the ball, wound back, and threw without thinking. The ball sailed into the horizon as Aizawa announced a distance of 454.5 meters. Ethan noticed that in his distraction, he had thrown with his right hand. Oops.

Luckily, Aizawa only gave him a look before he walked back to the lien, though his entire class was staring. He had thrown a ball that far with seemingly no quirk. Great. Just what I needed. I’m fine with stares, but this is the wrong reason for them. Thanks robot arm.

Slip ups aside, the standout for the ball throw was Round Face, who made the ball float up, and up, and up. Aizawa eventually showed the screen, which displayed an infinity sign. Zero gravity. Useful as heck. Sorry for misjudging you, Round Face. Wonder what poor bastard has to follow that… oh. Of course, it’s Midoriya. Universe, can you please give this kid a break? He was of course quite nervous as Iida was talking in the background. Spiky hair scoffed at whatever Iida had said, and firmly stated that Midoriya was quirkless.

Quirkless? That would explain some things, though I don’t know why Spiky is saying that like it’s a bad thing. If he is quirkless, then he must have worked double to pass and make it here. I get the sense that Spiky has some prejudiced views. Not that I wouldn’t guess that. He seems to type. That kind of ego might make him fun to mess with. Ethan smirked at the thought as he watched Midoriya gather his courage.

Midoriya’s arm started to glow as he wound back. Guess the quirkless theory is out. The other boy pitched forward mightily, releasing as the ball… Landed only 67 meters away. That was anticlimactic? Di his quirk burn out or…? Ethan’s answer came as he looked over to their teacher, whose eyes glowed red and hair was floating. Aizawa offered a simple explanation to the confused Midoriya.

“I erased your quirk.”

Aizawa’s scarf was floating a bit, and Ethan spotted golden goggles around the man’s neck at the same time as Midoriya, who blurted out what he was piecing together. Shouta Aizawa was the underground hero Eraserhead.

Midoriya found himself wrapped up in Aizawa’s scarf and pulled close as the teacher delivered some words to him. Ethan couldn’t hear what was said, but it obviously upset Midoriya, who visibly paled before Eraserhead released him to try again.

Ethan was wincing in sympathy as Midoriya prepared for his 2^nd throw. This will not be pretty if he tries the same trick twice. But something changed. The look on the greenete’s face was not fear anymore. It had returned to one of utter determination. He wound back, and this time when he threw, he really did throw.

The explosion of air that resulted from the release nearly blew Ethan off his feet. After a few moments, he brushed his blown hair out of his face and looked to see what had happened. Midoriya stood triumphant, and sated so to Aizawa, who had a look that screamed ‘this kid’. Now that was cool. Wait, is his finger broken!?

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10:20 AM, UA High Athletic Field

Morgan was impressed, to say the least.

A student, Midoriya, if he had heard right from Iida, had that much power? And it could harm his body? This was interesting. The comparisons he could make to himself made Morgan curious.

What also caught his eye was the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might, peeking around the main building like a little child trying to spy on their siblings. Morgan looked right at the number one pro and waved, a neutral expression on his face even as he felt immense joy at seeing the man in person. All Might seemed surprised that Morgan had noticed, but waved back, ever present smile still on his face. Morgan returned his attention to the field as a significant disturbance made himself known.  

“DEKU YOU BASTARD! YOU TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU’RE DEAD!”

Bakugou’s aggressive voice shot into the air just as he did, explosions propelling him toward the frightened Midoriya. Before he reached him, however, he was stopped as Aizawa’s capture scarf wrapped around Bakugou, restraining him as the tired teacher erased the explosive blonde’s quirk.

The pro hero Eraserhead. Now he could see it. He should have recognized it when that scarf had started floating.

Bakugou was still stubbornly struggling to get to Midoriya. His temper controlled him. He would need to curb it, or it would get him killed.

Aizawa summarily dismissed them once Bakugou finally gave up, grumbling and obviously still angry. Today was not actually their first day. It was just the day of the entrance ceremony. He sent Midoriya to Recovery Girl before he left, however. Real classes started tomorrow, but today they were home before lunch. Morgan was just leaving the gates as he heard a shout behind him.

“Hey! Wait up, man!”

Morgan turned to see Kaminari running up behind him. The other boy stopped in front of him, out of breath. He took a moment before straightening up and smiling.

“Glad I managed to catch up to ya. You remember me, right? Denki Kaminari? We talked in the halls.”

Morgan of course did remember. The other boy had ambushed him in the hall, chattering at him while Morgan had no idea what to say, and thus nodded along.

“Yes, you are familiar.”

Great response. How do social interactions work again?

Kaminari did not pick up on the awkwardness, grinning as he sighed, relieved.

“Good! I was worried you forgot with how silent you were.”

“I certainly would not forget someone so… colorful.” Was that an insult? Kaminari did not take it that way.

“Thanks! Anyways, I didn’t get to finish what I was saying before. You were so awesome, I mean, you blew up that huge robot!”

“Thanks.”

“You did scare the heck out of me though, I mean you had these black lines all over you, you coughed up BLOOD and then just fell over. You could have gotten really hurt. Well, more than you already were. Glad I caught you.”

“Thank you for that by the way.” He really did not have to. Morgan would have been fine. Still, it was… nice to have someone care about his wellbeing aside from Mom and about two of the Four Horsemen.

“No problem. Hey, you live in Musustafu?”

“Yes?”

“My house is there too! Why not walk home together?”

Morgan froze. He had not expected such outright friendliness. He had not had that sort of experience since Chaos had left. It was nice.

“Sure.”

The two boys set off, Kaminari chattering most of the way, Morgan content to listen and add occasional comments. He had fun. He had missed this sort of dynamic, since he had not gone out of his way to form friendships for the past months. If this was what these school years had in store, Morgan thought, He could live with that.

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6:05 PM, UA High, Faculty Office

Shouta Aizawa frowned as he looked at each of his student’s results from today. Most of the other teachers had gone home, but here he was, still staring. He could already tell this batch was going to be a headache.

On the surface, most seemed unremarkable, but he knew better. He knew potential when he saw it, and this class, despite obvious flaws, had it in spades. He had already gone through most of the class, and had made notes on how to help the flaws he already had seen, and he was now left with the four who had either worried him or piqued his curiosity the most.

Bakugou Katsuki was going to be a problem. His anger issues indicated some sort of superiority complex. An all-too-common problem these days when a kid has a powerful quirk. The adults around them praise them so much they geta swelled head and think they’re invincible. Bakugou, though, wasn’t just bluster. If he was, he would’ve been expelled. He wrote in his notes to see if he could work some restraint into his training.

Ethan Gray was about what he expected, the kid was a showoff through and through, but he backed it up by being in the top percentile, fifth place, showing himself to be both fast and versatile. But something about him seemed…off. Somehow, Aizawa felt as if there was more behind this kid’s eyes than what he saw on the surface. Maybe it was the long sleeve he wore on his right side, complete with a glove on one hand but not the other. Maybe it was the fact that the grip strength monitor he used was warped sue to what looked like a incredibly strong grip, but his reading was only 64 kilograms. Or maybe it was a lot of small things. He made a note to look into Gray’s background.

Akio Atsushi was another who piqued his interest. He had been the highest score in the entrance exam, and had showed why, coming in second out of 21. But his demeanor was what made Aizawa curious. At first glance, he had assumed the kid was just socially awkward or something, but while that definitely played a part, something else was there. He carried himself in a way that no teenager should. There was a cold, cool confidence that only seasoned pros carried with them, yet he was only 15. What could have caused this? Maybe it made sense in Shouto Todoroki’s case, having likely been trained his whole life, but Atsushi’s background showed no such legacy. In fact, his background was quite sparse in general, with only really the basics filled in, and nothing more. Normally there was at least a bit more than this.

The kid’s quirk was another matter entirely. It was powerful, no doubt about that. He was the other student that had brought down a zero-pointer that year, and had also paid dearly. Recovery Girl’s report, which was only sent his way if she felt the damage was unusual and might help him, indicated that he seemed to have sustained widespread tissue damage, that while dangerous, was not fatal. Apparently, his quirk had a large drawback. Aizawa sighed. Another one. But unlike Midoriya, Atsushi seemed to have some measure of control, as he only seemed to sustain his injuries in the attack that destroyed the zero-pointer. He made a note to maybe pair the two up in the future, might be able to learn together.

Finally, out of the four he had picked out, Izuku Midoriya concerned him the most. The kid was bound to be a problem child. He had little to no control, over his quirk, as if he had only gotten it recently, and it always seemed to come at a high cost. Even that little stunt during the ball throw had cost him a finger, and that was still concerning, even if it wasn’t a whole arm. Plus, he seemed to have already be All Might’s favorite. Aizawa frowned. Just another reason to dislike that oaf. He was already going to be biased, and he hadn’t even had his first class yet. Midoriya was obviously a hero fan, and Aizawa could tell he was going to have to work on some of those self-sacrificial tendencies. He had potential, the ball throw proved that, but he was too willing to throw himself toward danger. He made a note in the file to keep a close eye on him. This was no easy fix. He would likely work it out if Aizawa’s hunch was right. Until then, he had to make sure the kid didn’t kill himself.

He sighed as he packed up. This year was going to be one big headache, wasn’t it? At least he didn’t have to deal with them the whole day. Then he realized All Might would be teaching in two days and he sighed even harder. That buffoon clearly had no idea how to teach. At least he wouldn’t be alone. Nedzu had told him that they had flown in a new faculty member. Some American hero he had seen on the news once or twice. He hoped this guy would be worth it, but from his meeting with him, he doubted it. He really, really, doubted it.

 

   

   

 

 

    

  

 

 

 

Notes:

I am really excited for next time, as we get into the battle trials. Lets say that things are not likely to be as you remember them, and we introduce another of my OC's. Thank you, as always, criticism is welcome, so if you have any suggestions, please comment below. have a great day, and see you next time!
P.S: The moment with Sero was inspired by another fic, Crazy Quirks, by Scarlet_Eraserhead_Witch. Check it out, it's great.

Chapter 5: First Day Jitters Part 2: Lets go! Battle Trials Part 1

Summary:

Class 1-A begins their first hero foundations class and are introduced to the newest member of UA staff. Morgan makes a few observations of his classmates and Ethan makes new friends.

Notes:

Hello everyone! Good to post again after more than a month of silence. Anyways, the battle trials begin this chapter, and will end next chapter, which will be delivered quick, I promise that. I am sick of my own schedule myself, and I really do enjoy writing this fanfiction. Anyways, you may notice a few different placements. That's because I randomly determined the teams and battles aside from Team A vs Team D, because that is an integral part of the anime's early storyline. This chapter was incredibly fun to write, and I think it’s my favorite so far, so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did! Also, I hope you guys enjoy the new OC. I love all my characters, but he is definitely one of my favorites.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or its characters. I only own my OC's.

7:30 AM, April 13^th, Ryan Teller’s Apartment

The blaring of his alarm clock cut straight through Ryan Teller’s peaceful sleep. He groggily looked at his side table, briefly considering smashing the damn thing before he saw the time. Annoyance quickly morphed to panic. He was supposed to be at work by 7:20 to finalize his transfer to Japan! He was already ten minutes late! To his first day!

Ryan mentally hit himself as he rushed around his apartment like a madman, brewing coffee with toast in his mouth and also while pulling on his costume’s pants, jacket hanging off by one arm. Of course this would happen. Almost thirty-four and still have the time management of a teenager. As always. He was livid with himself, and so focused on his rush that he almost didn’t notice the objects in his apartment starting to float. As soon as he did, he breathed out and they set down. Too panicked. Ryan patted himself down to ensure he had everything. Costume? Check. Keys? Check. Bag? Check. Okay, good to go. Now he needed to get going. He headed out the door of his apartment quick to begin an extremely late commute.

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Okay, did he kick a puppy in a previous life or something? Ryan racing around the streets of Musutafu for the past fifteen minutes, desperately trying to remember his work’s location. Where’s the damn school? And after he took that long tour and everything too. He was never going to hear the end of it from his new colleagues.

Ryan looked around before ducking into a nearby alleyway. He really didn’t like using his abilities like this, but he needed to get to UA now or he suspected he was a dead man, at least if Nedzu was as strict as his previous principal. He closed his eyes to focus his quirk. He could feel space beginning to bend, but he was thrown out of his focus as a cocky voice called out to him from deeper in the alley.

“You lost Yankee?”

Great. Because he really needed trouble right now. Ryan schooled his face as he turned to observe the clearly criminal group ambushing passerby in alleyways. Three thugs, all incredibly muscled brutes, along with their leader, a tall, thin, and greasy man in a dirty green hoodie, likely the one who had spoken. None of the group seemed very scared, probably confident they could take on one guy. Their mistake. Still, Ryan tried to be friendly.

“It would happen to be that way. You gentlemen fancy helping a new resident out? You see, I’m heading to work, and I need- “

Leader Thug cut him off, smiling, and Ryan could see he was missing a few of his weathered yellow teeth.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. But I think we’re gonna be helping ourselves. To your things. Phone, wallet, and whatever’s in the bag. Hurry it up before me and my associates get, violent.”

Ryan held up his hands in a caution gesture.

“No. Seriously, why don’t you guys just be on your way? You really don’t want to fight me, and I have places to be.”

Leader Thug did not take that well.

“Really? I think our chances are pretty good. Let’s get messy boys!”

At that the three muscled grunts began to advance, and the leader summoned some type of energy in his hands.

Ryan sighed.

“I tried. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He held out his hand, and the four criminals froze as silver energy outlined their bodies. Leader Thug’s energy dissipated as he yelped out in surprise.

“What the- “

He was cut off as Ryan lifted his hand, and the small gang flew up into the air, as if pulled by wires. They began to swirl around in the air like a tornado of failure before Ryan took both hands and slammed them together. The thugs immediately rammed together, crushing the leader between their large bodies, and falling unconscious. Ryan dropped his hand and the pile of criminals fell hard.

“Hope no one saw that last part. Wouldn’t want my debut to be a bad first impression” Ryan muttered to himself as he dusted his jacket off and adjusted his bag. A bored voice came from the alleyway entrance and made him freeze only seconds later.

“I think you already have. At UA, at least.”

A chill ran down Ryan’s spine as he turned to see…

“Eraserhead! How’s, uh, how’s the day going?”

The Erasure Hero ignored Ryan’s attempt at deflection, giving the other man a stern look.

“You are more than half an hour late.”

 “Oh, yeah. I…… Oh, screw it. I don’t have an excuse. I overslept and I couldn’t remember the route to UA. You wouldn’t happen to know the way, would you?”

Eraserhead didn’t respond, only turning and walking away.

“Okay then, I’ll just follow along. Gotta memorize the route now. Wait. Where are we?”

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11:40 AM, UA High, Classroom 1-A

High School was a jarring transition for Ethan. Sure, he had done some research, but real life was not at all what all that anime had portrayed, and his memories of primary school were no help. Class 1-A’s first true day of school at UA went by head-spinningly quickly, like a Nessian hopped on sugar. He was introduced to teacher after teacher in subjects he mostly had no interest in, though he did wince when he saw Present Mic (Haven’t my ears been through enough?) and really question the thought process of the principal when Midnight introduced herself, causing most of the guys to develop seemingly spontaneous nosebleeds. Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to have the self-proclaimed 18+ Hero teach high schoolers?

Midoriya had been in a perpetual dumb state for most of the day, with each and every teacher causing him to become unresponsive for at least ten minutes in an oblivious storm of muttering that was really starting to creep people out. The only time it seemed to really abate was during lunch, but even then, he collapsed into another fit after he saw Lunch Rush. He had to admit though, it was kind of cool, and he did have his own minor stroke when Snipe introduced himself as their history teacher. The cowboy hero had spent time in America similar to All Might, and Ethan fondly remembered playing with a recreation of the man’s guns and hat. That’s one class I’ll be paying attention to.

Snipe and Midnight’s classes were welcome surprises since Ethan felt doomed to be bored before that. English? Already fluent in that and 5 other galactic languages. Math? An absolute joke with what he knew. Literature? Reading really didn’t interest him. Art History and History were really his saving graces since they were subjects he didn’t know and had an interest in. Plus, Having Midnight for a teacher was going to be really entertaining, considering the reactions she got, from the boys and a few of the girls.

The 1^st half of the 2^nd day had been much the same as the first, but more boring, since it was just their teachers laying out curriculum and expectations, though Ethan did get a kick out of the utter bewilderment that Atsushi had shown when most of the class was unresponsive to Miss Midnight’s questions. The guy clearly had no idea what was going on.

But that had passed. It was time for Foundational Hero Studies, and you could feel the energy in the room. Midoriya was practically vibrating in his chair. The reaction was not all that surprising. Ethan had hung around the greenette and his small group yesterday, and had learned quite a bit about Midoriya’s practical worship of All Might. You would never hear a bad thing about the guy from him. That set off some alarm bells.

Ethan had to marvel at this sort of behavior. It was not new, he had seen a couple people express this sort of opinion, but it seemed so foreign to him. All Might was a great hero and Ethan had a lot of respect for him, he was the Number 1 Hero for a reason, but he was 1 man. 1 man can’t hold society on his shoulders. While it was impressive that All Might had tried do so for at least 3 decades, he was going to fail one day, and the frustrating thing was that since All Might had made no moves to change this status quo, he either believed he could hold up society on his own or he knew he couldn’t but kept trying anyway. Things were going to crumble when All Might retired, unless big things happened quickly.

Even with all of that, Ethan was still awed as All Might entered the classroom with his usual level of subtlety.

“I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!”

The costume All Might was wearing was unfamiliar to Ethan, though he quickly caught from the chatter of his classmates that this was the Pro’s ‘Silver-Age’ outfit, whatever that meant.

As expected, everyone, even Bakugou and the ever-cold Todoroki seemed awed by the appearance of the Number 1 Hero. The guy was quite the sight. Over seven feet of pure muscle that seemed to practically radiate power. Who wouldn’t be awed?

All Might strode confidently forward and stood in front of the podium at the front, ready to address the class, but stopped before doing so. This was unexpected. Why was he waiting?

That question was answered as a second figure walked in. Clearly an adult, so not a new classmate. An assistant teacher? Ethan looked over to Midoriya, who seemed confused as well. Normally he would know who this guy was, but he didn’t. Who was he?

All Might had about a foot on him, but he was still quite tall, about 6 feet of lean muscle rather than the bulging power of the Number 1 Hero. His hair, a light gray, was messy and a bit unkempt, and his hero costume was far simpler than the grand designs of All Might. A red jacket over a red shirt, jeans, boots, and a small belt of gadgets, completed by a silver mask over his eyes. He seemed rather nervous in his gait, looking at the ground and slouching a bit, hiding his true height until he stood beside All Might and straightened up. It was clear as soon as he spoke that he was American.

“Hello class. I’m your assistant teacher for Foundational Hero Studies, Ryan Teller. I’m from America if you couldn’t tell. Feel free to ask questions later, but right now, we need to get started. Right, All Might?”

Teller looked at All Might expectantly, who jolted as if he hadn’t expected to talk yet, before he settled back into his classic smile.

“Right, Teller-san! As he said, today Is your first Hero Foundational Studies class! Think of it as Heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro! And what it means to fight in the name of good!”

“What he means is that this is probably the most important class you will take here. It’s meant to give you the tools you need to succeed out in the world. Not just combat, but other skills like first aid, rescue training, the history of hero society, and how to handle the media. But today, as my colleague has decided,” He looked to All Might, and Ethan caught the slightly annoyed glare he threw to the other Pro “Will be…”

“COMBAT TRAINING!” All Might yelled, holding out a card he had labeled COMBAT in bold letters. Why did he make that? Does the Number One Hero need flashcards to teach?

Ethan couldn’t see Bakugou’s face from where he sat, but he knew the spiky blonde was sporting a feral grin. Great. Hope Recovery Girl is ready to work overtime. Midoriya was dead if he had to go against Bakugou, and from the sweat that started pouring off the green haired boy as he muttered ‘actual combat?’, he did too.

Teller likely caught the look on Bakugou’s face as he looked around at the class, and frowned.

“This is less actual combat and more an assessment of your current combat capabilities. While some of you,” He eyed Todoroki and Yaoyorozu “Have had training, I know most of you don’t. This is just to see where you are at to develop a plan to help you develop, which will be given to your homeroom teacher as well. Right, All Might?”

“Right! Today you start your journey to become a hero for real! And part of that,” He said, posing dramatically in front of the podium “Is looking good!” He pointed to the wall, which slid out to reveal 21 suitcases, each labeled with a number from 1 to 21.

“These were designed using information you gave on your quirk registration form and the requests you filled out. Please take the suitcase with your number on it, change in the locker rooms, and meet us at Training Ground Beta. Make sure you don’t dawdle either.”

With that, Teller walked out far more confident than he had walked in. He seemed like a different person from the one who entered the room. Nothing like I expected. All Might, in contrast stood for a moment before he walked out of the room, the students already heading to the racks to grab their suitcase. Ethan grinned wide, showing off his sharpened canines. He had worked on this design for a while, and now? It was showtime. He grabbed Number 19 and headed off, wondering how hard it would be to hide a metal arm in a changing room.

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Exiting the tunnel to Training Ground Beta felt like something out of those old pre-quirk movies Ethan had binge watched. The entire class walked as one, everyone suited up and ready to go, emerging like astronauts heading to a launch in slow motion. All Might and Teller were standing just outside the tunnel, both smiling proudly. All Might even said how cool they all looked. Ethan had no idea how he had said that with a straight face. Some of his classmates’ outfits were completely impractical or just bad. Some were too bulky, like Aoyama’s, too light like Kaminari’s, or…Oh come on Yaoyorozu! How did the school approve that!? That opening in the chest might as well just say ‘stab here’! It makes sense for her quirk, but not even a zipper!? And why right… there?

He did like a few of his classmate’s designs though. Iida’s was practical and cool looking, the armor slick but heavy, turning him to a mobile tank.  Sero’s looked good, and he liked Midoriya’s purely because it made him laugh. It was blatant All Might plagiarism, a fact that even the Number One Hero recognized, if the way he covered his mouth to muffle the laugh was.

Atsushi's caught his eye purely because it combined style and function. His main costume was a dark purple and black bodysuit, with armored plates secured all around his arms, legs, and chest. The plates themselves black, and were placed in ways that allowed maximum movement and flexibility, while also sacrificing little in terms of protection. Over top of that was a long black overcoat reminiscent of a trenchcoat, and his look was completed with a black hat and an intricate white domino mask. Plus, his waist had a short belt on which hung several pouches, as well as a few flashbangs. Practical to max, while not sacrificing looks. Ethan was a bit jealous. 

Ethan like to think he had done pretty well designing his costume. The main part was a white and grey bodysuit with circuitry patterns on the sides. Basic and not heavily armored, but still padded and more protective than Kaminari’s tracksuit. Black boots with iron soles for a good kick, and black gloves to match the sleeve he wore on his metal arm. Over the bodysuit he wore a grey jacket with a fancy collar and a Cat Eye on the back. He had a small belt of gadgets as well, notably some smoke bombs, a few flashbangs, some caltrops, his sabre, and a stun gun. Finally, he had a pair of goggles he would wear in combat, obscuring when he was using his quirk. His outfit was built for speed, and he was damn proud of the homage to his old outfit.

Class 1-A gathered around their teachers, eager to begin.

Teller smiled.

“Alright, before we begin, I’m sure you all are curious, so I’ll give. One question.”

10 hands shot up.

“You, uh Kaminari, Right? Sorry, it may take me a bit to work out your names.”

Kaminari smiled from his place beside Atsushi, who despite a normally cool demeanor, looked as curious as the rest of the students.

“Uh, who are you? No offense or anything.”

Teller smiled and waved a hand dismissively.

“It’s fine, I’m not expecting you guys to guess who I am instantly.”

He waved his hand at All Might, who was shuffling his cards in preparation to give instructions. One of the cards was surrounded by silver light instantly and flew into Teller’s hand. All Might was not amused.

“In The States I’m known as The Telekinetic Hero- “

Teller was cut off as Midoriya began to excitedly ramble.

“Psyker! I know you! You’re America’s number two hero! You’ve resolved over two thousand cases, rescued more than one thousand people, and- “

Midoriya was cut off by Teller, looking a bit flustered.

“Yeah, thanks for that, I guess. Anyways, I transferred here to teach for five years in some exchange program. I’ve taught at America’s top hero school, Dawn Academy, for over eight years, I’m here to help this big guy- “He patted All Might’s shoulder. ”to get used to teaching.”

“Anyways, let’s get to the rules. Take it away All Might!”

“Right! Today you will be assigned to teams of two or three in one case, and randomly pitted against each other as either heroes or villains. The teams have ten minutes, after which the match will be called. The villains must protect the bomb by running out the clock or capturing the heroes with capture tape” All Might held up a roll of thick white tape.

“The heroes win by either ‘securing’ the bomb by touching it, or capturing the villains with capture tape” Teller explained, holding up his own roll of capture tape. “Any questions?”

Of course, The entire class burst with a million questions, some simple ones about procedure, but Ethan caught Bakugou’s “How much can we hurt the other team?” Teller quieted them as All Might prepared the drawing, frowning at the spiky blonde, clearly having caught his question.

“I hear you. The teams will have five minutes before the battle. This is for the heroes to plan, and for the villains to prepare. As for violence….” He looked straight at Bakugou. “Remember that you are training to be heroes. Try not to give Recovery Girl too much work.”

He smiled.

“But otherwise, go all out. Show us what you’re capable of of.”

All Might turned back around, sticks clutched in his hand.

“Now that everything is explained, let’s get you paired up! Take a stick and find the partner with the same letter as you. Team J does have three members, due to the number of students, but we have made adjustments for that.”

After the distribution, Ethan looked to his stick. J. The group of three. I can work with that. He looked around for his partners as people paired up. He noticed a flustered Midoriya was paired with Uraraka, so that would be entertaining. He was startled by a voice from behind him.

“Are you on Team J too, kero?”

Ethan spun around to see Asui looking at him, her expression passive as always. Beside her was… a pair of floating gloves? Oh, that’s probably the invisible girl, Hagakure. Wait, her costume is just gloves and boots?! Isn’t that illegal? There has to be some material there that turns invisible with her, right?!

Ethan kept his panicked thoughts to himself as he offered his partners a smile.

“Yep. I guess you two are my partners. We’re the group of three?”

“Seems so, kero.”

Hagakure waved her gloves around excitedly.

“Ooooh, I can’t wait to start, this is gonna be soooo fun!”

Ethan smirked, and his eyes gleamed. Invisibility and...Frog, I guess? I can work with this.

“We can talk more later. It seems we need to line up, kero.”

Hagakure, despite her loudness, did go quiet pretty quickly, and they lined up without incident in alphabetical order, allowing Ethan to see the other pairings:

Team A- Midoriya and Uraraka

Team B- Todoroki and Kouda

Team C- Atsushi and Yaoyorozu

Team D- Bakugou and lida

Team E- Ojirou and Sato

Team F- Ashido and Sero

Team G- Jirou and Kaminari

Team H- Tokoyami and Shoji

Team I- Kirishima and Aoyama

Team J- Asui, Hagakure, and Himself

Interesting combos here. He did feel bad for Iida, though. Bakugou did not strike him as a team player.

Once all the groups were lined up, All Might continued.

“Alright! Time to decide the matches!”

He rummaged in the basket of large balls painted with letters before he pulled out two.

“The first match is… Team A vs Team D, with Team A as the heroes and Team D as the villains!”

Oh no. That match is a disaster waiting to happen. Ethan could see Midoriya was sweating through his costume, and everyone took a step away from Bakugou, who was emitting a murderous aura as he grinned. Well, goodbye Midoriya, it was nice knowing you. Ethan shook shook off thoughts about Midoriya’s imminent death just as the other matches were called:

Team J (Heroes) Vs Team I (Villains)

Team B (Heroes) Vs. Team E (Villains)

Team F (Heroes) Vs. Team H (Villains)

Team G (Heroes) Vs. Team C (Villains)

It looked like Ethan’s team would be up against Kirishima and Aoyama, right after Bakugou finished murdering Midoriya. They were certainly going to be an interesting pair to fight. He had some thoughts, but they could wait. He followed the rest of his class as All Might and Teller lead them to the observation room to watch what was sure to be a train-wreck.

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11:50 AM, UA High, Training Ground Observation Room

Morgan was apprehensive as the first battle trial was close to starting. His group was last, and he would be fighting Kaminari, or Denki, as he had already insisted to be called. The other boy had been very friendly since school had begun, sitting next to him at lunch, and walking home with him yesterday and the day before. It honestly perplexed him. Morgan had not done anything to warrant this. He had saved Denki, sure, but that had been almost a month ago. He did not deserve this level of friendliness, especially since Denki did most of the talking. He was grateful, though. It made the adjustment to high school a little easier.

And now Morgan had to fight him. It made him uncomfortable. He had had to fight friends before, the Horsemen regularly trained with him, but Denki was not a trained and deadly assassin. In fact, he seemed as far from that as possible, especially with how he had designed his costume with so little protection. Morgan did not want to hurt him, by accident or otherwise. Then there was the other matter. His partner. He had nothing against Yaoyorozu, she seemed polite, level-headed, and intelligent, if a bit hesitant, but he had no idea how to talk to her. He had tried at least two times already, since she was near him in the observation room, but he froze up both times. It felt like an inexplicable…something was creeping up on him. He would call it nervousness for now, until he could pinpoint what exactly it was. He had no idea how to plan and work with someone he did not know. He pondered this conundrum, but snapped to reality as All Might called the match to begin.

Team D was disorganized already, Bakugou brushing off Iida’s attempts to plan and heading to confront Midoriya, who he seemed to have some deep-seated issue with, on his own. AT least he left Iida to guard, though he obviously did not see it that way. Morgan could already tell Team D was at a disadvantage compared to Team A. A team mission’s success hinged on good communication and ability to plan on the field. Team D was doing none of that, though that was mostly Bakugou’s fault. Team A, on the other hand, was moving as one, and he could tell Midoriya and Uraraka were communicating well. The mark of a good team. Likely scenario: Team A victory due to the poor communication and disorganization of opponents.

Morgan heard a few of his classmates talking and taking bets already on who was going to win. Most were undecided, but some, like Kirishima or Sero, were betting on Team D. He could see why they would say that if they worked together. Iid’s speed and Bakugou’s power could have made a devastating combination, but as it stood Bakugou was trying to go it alone, and it was him people were talking about. Morgan could not see why. He was powerful, but he was reckless, and held long lasting grudges, if the way he practically went feral the moment Midoriya was mentioned was an indication. Those types, no matter how smart, were easy to bait and eliminate. Just play on their anger they would lose all sense. He had so many clear weaknesses.

Still, it may not be obvious to Midoriya or Uraraka. He was proven immediately wrong on first contact, when Midoriya easily turned the tables on Bakugou. The spiky blonde had opted for an aggressive approach, though his silent approach was admittedly impressive. Midoriya has seemed to sense him and had gotten both out of the way, leaving the only mark on his suit, not his skin.  Midoriya further impressed with his next move when he flipped Bakugou, using his momentum against him when Bakugou overextended with a right hook. The beginning of the fight allowed Uraraka to slip away as Midoriya lead Bakugou in the opposite direction. He suspected that was the team’s plan to begin with. Midoriya had seemed to know Bakugou before UA, and so he likely knew this would happen. A divide and conquer strategy. Not bad for a plan in five minutes.

Midoriya evaded Bakugou for two more minutes before the explosive blonde re-engaged, and this time, actually struck. Midoriya was battered quickly and precisely in a brutal manner. It changed Morgan’s perception. To execute the moves he just had, Bakugou would have needed to precisely calculate and time each explosion just right. He needed to have been constantly aware of his surroundings and be in complete control of his own momentum. He may have been reckless, but Bakugou was no tunnel-visioned fool.

Morgan immediately threw his newfound respect in the trash receptacle when Bakugou detonated a massive and potentially deadly blast right at Midoriya. A move like that was not just reckless, it was stupid and not even remotely heroic. What if there were hostages, or people below the building when he clearly blasted out the wall?! Morgan took back all of his complements. Bakugou was an idiot.

His teachers both seemed to think so as well, with All Might frantically yelling at Bakugou not to set off the explosion, while Teller seemed furious with the blonde.

“Why did the support department give him something like that?! That is a potentially deadly weapon in the hands of a student with the temperament of a wet cat!”

All Might was startled by the outburst, but managed to calm his fellow teacher down, before looking back to the screen and warning Bakugou to not use that move again.

Luckily for Bakugou, Midoriya was still alive. Hurt, but alive. He did not think the blonde would have liked being arrested for murder and spending time in juvenile detention.

By this time Uraraka had reached the bomb room, and was hiding behind a pillar as she observed Iida, who appeared to be doing some sort of…villain impression? It was hard to tell with no sound, but the way he was moving looked a lot like the cartoon villains he had seen during his marathon of animation.

Uraraka had tried to sneak, but Iida had caught her, and appeared to be bragging, and then Morgan noticed it. Iida had cleared all items Uraraka could float from the room. He had not been idle while the class’s attention was on the big fight. The brunette gave a good try to get to the bomb, but Iida was too quick, and it seemed a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Midoriya appeared to be cornered. Team D’s likelihood of victory was going up as the time on the clock said three minutes left. Bakugou and Midoriya were talking, and whatever was said between them seemed to just make the explosive blonde even angrier. He charged, an explosion ready, as Morgan noticed Midoriya say something into his earpiece as his arm started to glow and he charged as well. On the other screen, Uraraka seemed to hear what he said, and ceased her attempt to get at the bomb. A plan. The brunette jumped back, grabbing onto a pillar just as Midoriya and Bakugou’s quirks collided, Midoriya’s punch sending the explosion upward, blowing the upper flooring apart all the way to where Iida and Uraraka were. Midoriya had never been cornered. He had managed to lure Bakugou right where he was needed.

The distraction provided by the middle of the room blowing apart gave Uraraka the time she needed, taking out Iida in an admittedly impressive but reckless move and touching the bomb with two minutes to spare, securing the victory for the hero team. Morgan’s prediction had been right from the start. Communication really did make the difference.

Midoriya had broken his arms in the final clash, and needed medical attention, and as he was hauled off Bakugou appeared to be in shock. All Might himself needed to escort him back to the observation room.

Morgan made a note to talk to Midoriya and offer his help with control and training. He might be able to help. Uraraka as well, though for a different reason. Her improvisation skills were remarkable, and he could tell she had the making of a great fighter with the proper training. But both of those could wait. He needed to focus on the Breakdown and the next match. This one was going to be interesting.

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12:08 PM, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 4

That was quite a show. Was rooting for Team A, but man did both of them go all out! Ethan was smiling as he saw Bakugou fuming in a corner as All Might and Psyker broke down the match, with some help from Yaoyorozu. Both Psyker basically broke down every way Bakugou had been stupid, and that really had to hurt. The Pro had been glaring at the blonde for most of the breakdown, too. Iida was the MVP, which Etan could see when everything was broken down. He had been the most consistent and refined of the participants.

But that had only lasted a short while. Now, his team was up. He, Asui, and Hagakure now stood in front of the building they were using, since the previous had sustained damage that could compromise the results of the test.

Kirishima and Aoyama had entered a few minutes before, with the two giving the other team good luck in their own ways, Kirishima with a clap on the back and a bright “good luck!” and Aoyama with a bright smile and some French he supposed meant some variation of ‘good luck’. He and his teammates had talked for a bit, brainstorming various ideas as they tried to set out a plan. He looked to the clock. 2 Minutes. He looked to Asui and Hagakure. He smiled.

“Hey guys, I think I have an idea. You wanna hear it?”

Asui looked over to him. He really couldn’t tell if Hagakure did.

“What is it, kero?

Ethan’s eyes gleamed

“Asui, you’re good at jumping, right?”

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12:10 PM, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 4

AS soon as All Might signaled to begin, they split up. They were still in contact with the cool earpieces their sensei’s had given them, but they were on their own for the most part, since that covered the most ground, as Asui had said.

Tooru did her best to creep quietly down the halls of the building despite her excitement. She had not only made it to UA, but she had met so many cool people too! Asui was so pretty and smart, and Gray was so nice and seemed to match her enthusiasm! They had entrusted a big part of the plan to Tooru, and she wouldn’t let either of them down! But first she needed to find that stupid bomb.

Luckily, that part wasn’t too hard. She found the room after only two minutes. It was on the third floor, which shad called dibs on. She didn’t know why, but she just had had a feeling it was there. She was right, and she almost gasped when she saw Aoyama and Kirishima in the room she was peeking into, along with the bomb. She found it! Score one Tooru! Trying not to be too loud in her excitement, she immediately began to whisper-yell to her teammates.

“Guys, I found them! Third floor west corner, come quick!”

She didn’t have to wait long as Gray’s voice came through.

“Stay right where you are, we’ll meet you there, right Asui?”

“Yep, kero”

Tooru bounced up and down quietly as she waited. Phase one was done. Now she needed to wait for her teammates so she could do her part!

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12:15 AM, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 4

Tsuyu moved quickly after Grey as he launched himself into the room. The plan they had come up with was good, so she was not worried per se, but she hoped it worked. But it would not if she didn’t do her part.

Gray’s boots collided with Kirishima’s chest with a loud thud, as the red-haired boy had blocked Gray’s path to the bomb, his initial target. Since Kirishima had almost instinctively hardened his chest, it didn’t hurt him, but it did send him stumbling back. Tsuyu quickly dodged away as a laser fired toward her courtesy of Aoyama, who appeared to be using Kirishima as a shield to provide ranged fire. A good plan, if basic, since neither of the two seemed to be the strategy type.

Tsuyu focused on Aoyama, drawing his attention away from Gray’s fight. He might be able to handle it, from what she saw in the Quirk Apprehension Test he was adept and agile, but it would be easier if he could focus on Kirishima. Tsuyu kept Aoyama’s aim at her. Keep him distracted.

Aoyama let off blast after blast, but she hopped out of the way of each one. He had a specific pattern to his blasts, one that was immediately obvious to Tsuyu. He would never fire for more than a second each time. This made his shots much easier to predict, and Tsuyu kept dodging.

She glimpsed Gray doing the same to her side. He was dodging Kirishima’s attacks easily, harassing the other boy as he seemed to bounce from surface to surface, never giving him a chance to react or an opening. It was impressive, since Tsuyu herself was dodging in a different way. Aoyama never let her get close enough to hit him. As easy as his pattern was to learn, the boy clearly knew of this limitation, and his blasts were frequent enough to deter Tsuyu from getting close for fear of one of them knocking her out, so, she kept away, and simply dodged to the side from them.

It was time. Tsuyu saw grey give her short, almost imperceptible hand sign. She began to move into place. Gray did the same, luring Kirishima to the exact place he needed.  Tsuyu did the same to Aoyama. AS soon as he saw this, Gray’s voice yelled out.

“Now!”

Tsuyu jumped. She pushed off from the wall she had been sticking to, and kicked Aoyama square in the chest, fast enough he couldn’t blast her. Gray’s feet collided with Kirishima at the same time. The teens flew into each other, leaving them on the floor, dazed. They had just begun to regain their faculties when All Might’s voice rang out over their earpieces.

“Heroes win!”

Confused, the two boys looked around, only to see a floating glove touching the bomb, another one giving Gray a thumbs up.

Tsuyu felt a bit of pride. The plan had worked. They had won.

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12:19 PM, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 4

Ethan grinned as both his teammates, along with Kirishima and Aoyama gathered up with him. He and Asui shared a nod and a reminder to call her Tsu, while Hagakure crowded his space, excitedly exclaiming “That was so cool! You guys were awesome, and then I came in, and we won! Oh, this is awesome!”

Hagakure was certainly expressive. Maybe because she was invisible for most of her life, she learned to be expressive? He high fived her before he turned to the defeated team and Hagakure started to chat at Tsu, who was just letting her talk, face impassive, but with a slight smile. Despite their loss, both of the other boys were grinning.

Kirishima offered his hand, and Ethan took it, shaking a heartily.

“That was so manly! I didn’t even see it coming! You guys worked so well together too! It was like you already knew each other! You didn’t, did you?”

“Nope. We just came up with a plan, and executed it. You guys did well too, and you are pretty strong. You really hurt my feet.”

Kirishima looked embarrassed at that.

“Yeah, thanks man.”

Then Aoyama cut in, posing for a non-existent camera, sparkles flying off his body.

“Mon Ami, you two showed so brightly we were blind to your compatriot! IT was an honor to fight ones who fought as beautifully as you!”

Ethan moved back a bit from the bright display before he grinned. 2 matches down, and his was a ringing, if close success. 3 More to go, and he had a general idea of how they would go. He looked to Tsu and Hagakure. At least he had some new friends to watch with.

Notes:

And that’s the end. Ethan had a bit say regarding All Might near the start of the chapter, and I wanted to address that. His point is one I feel needs to be talked about when it comes to criticism of All Might. All Might has done nothing to discourage society’s worship of him, and his solution for his passing is to name a successor to be the new symbol of peace, a new singular pillar to hold society, not working to reform the system, to ensure more supports there for the next generation, and this has disastrous consequences, as shown when he does retire before Midoriya is ready. It’s not something I see brought up often enough, though Void, by PunsAndCookies does, and you should really check that one out for an interesting take on just the show in general. Sometimes it feels like these notes are just recommendations for other, better fanfiction, but I really do enjoy the fic's I recommend, so no regrets. On another note, I hope you guys enjoyed the new OC. He won’t be integral to the plot, but I will be using him in a lot of scenes because I really have fun writing him. Also, I really question who thought it was a great idea to design their hero costumes themselves, with no required assistance. Seriously, how did they approve Yaoyorozu’s, especially since she is underage? I really want to thank those few of you who have read this far, for putting up with these slow updates. A real, genuine thank you. See you guys next time, hopefully soon. Next part will finish up the battle trials and start us on the road to the USJ. Bye!

Chapter 6: First Day Jitters Part 3: Battle On! Battle Trials Part 2

Summary:

The battle trials continue, as Ethan realizes that there may be more to some of his classmates, and discovers a big secret, while Morgan realizes that there may be a problem with attending UA.

Notes:

Happy Pride Month, Everyone! Back again after quite a while. Honestly, I have a problem. I'll finish a rough draft of a chapter then take forever to post it. But anyways, I really liked this chapter. It was pretty fun to imagine the other fights, since canon really didn't do much with them. The battle trials, in my opinion, felt a little rushed, like the only fight that mattered was Midoriya and Bakugou, when it would have been a cool opportunity to show off what the other students could do. We could have had an extra episode similar to Battle on, Challengers! from season two. Though it would take a little bit of restructuring to fit in the bits with Bakugou and Midoriya. But other than that, I finally got a chance to write Morgan in combat, which was quite fun! It also hit me that I haven't described Morgan's costume either. I'll do some editing to the previous chapter to rectify that, so please check that out soon. To that end, please keep an eye on the previous chapters, as I will be doing small edits and changes throughout this story's run. If anything major is changed, I'll post it in one of these notes. Like the small section I added to the end of Chapter 4. Check it out, if you haven't already. That's all for now, Enjoy!

12:25 AM, UA High, Training Ground Beta

Ethan was riding high after Team J’s victory. He couldn’t help the spring in his step and the giant grin on his face as both teams headed back to the observation room with All Might. Nothing more satisfying than when a plan goes off without a hitch. It seemed his enthusiasm was shared. Hagakure hadn’t stopped bouncing since the victory, and he could sense Tsu’s satisfaction, even as her face was as passive as ever. In fact, everyone seemed in good spirits. All Might’s ever-present smile was a given, but both Kirishima and Aoyama weren’t taking their loss particularly hard. That wasn’t really surprising, neither boy struck Ethan as the type to hold grudges, unlike Bakugou, who seemed to still be quietly seething in the corner when they finally arrived in the Observation room, to a storm of congrats from the rest of Class 1-A when they entered. It was quite overwhelming, from Ashido nearly tackling them, to Kaminari’s finger guns and “Good Job, bros!”, to Shoji’s quad Thumbs-Up.

Ethan had to admit, the attention was far better than the institute’s cold affirmations and hollow congratulations. It was almost overwhelming, and he took up a space along the wall once things had concluded to gather himself. The battle overview was boring, and it didn’t surprise him when Hagakure was named as the MVP. Without her, Kirishima and Aoyama’s strategy could have run out the clock on them, no matter how fast he and Tsu were.

He saw the next two teams exit and the observation room darken as the third match was about to start, and he had no idea how this one would go. Sato struck him as a super strength type, and Ojiro had that tail, so they might make for a strong physical defense. On the other hand, he had no read on Kouda. Kid was silent as a mouse, and the weird head was his only clue, and that was not helpful at all. Todoroki’s powers likely had something to do with ice, given his outfit, half his body was covered in it after all, but other than that, nothing. Could go either way.

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Match 3: Todoroki and Kouda Vs Ojiro and Sato

When All Might gave the signal, Ethan could see the difference in temperament between the hero team. I’ll give Todoroki this, his costume may be impractical, but he aces the part. Dude is ice cold. Kouda just radiated nerves, but Todoroki took control, saying something to Kouda. The other boy nodded, and called…birds? The avian allies flew in, and searched through the complex in three minutes, returning to Kouda, who then appeared to be conveying the location of the bomb room, using sign language. He can talk to animals? Might come in handy, but it’s situational. Might need some hand-to-hand lessons or gadgets.

As for the villain team, both boys were holed up in their bomb room, close to their load. Good strategy, for what they had. Neither seemed to have a quirk that let them create traps or block doors or any other method of defense.

Kouda made to walk in, but Todoroki held a hand out, stopping him. He then walked up and FROZE THE WHOLE DAMN BUILDING. The split-haired teen then walked into the building, followed by his teammate, who appeared to be as shocked as everyone in the observation room. Ethan even caught Psyker’s whispered “Holy shit….”. The entire class watched in stunned silence as Todoroki walked right past both Sato and Ojiro, who were frozen to the floor, and captured the bomb, securing a victory for the hero team. He didn’t even stop to thank Kouda, who had trailed him like a nervous puppy, simply walking out after All Might’s shaky confirmation of victory, though he did free his opponents. He arrived in the observation room about a minute before the others, and took up a position on the back wall, just a short distance from Ethan.

The class had shaken off their shock by the time Kouda and the others had gotten back, and began the debrief. It was boring, not much to say, so Ethan turned his attention to Todoroki. He slid up next to the other boy, hoping for his attention. He turned his head to see who was there, but didn’t acknowledge Ethan in any way. So I guess I gotta bite the bullet. Not surprising.

“Not very friendly, are ya Candy Cane? You just left everyone behind.”

This finally made the cold teen acknowledge him, though not the nickname he’d used, which was honestly good considering he had no good explanation for why he’d said that name out loud.

“I don’t see why it matters. As Mr. Aizawa said, we aren’t here to make friends. We’re here to become heroes.”

Ethan nodded his head slightly.

“I guess, but isn’t a big part of being a hero working with other pros in the field, whether or not you’re friends? Plus, you didn’t even thank Kouda for locating the bomb room. And that’s just basic etiquette.”

Todoroki furrowed his brow, maybe in annoyance or frustration? It was hard for Ethan to read him, since his face was usually set in some expression of mild annoyance or neutrality, no matter his actual mood.

“I don’t see the need. I would have found the room regardless by searching myself.”

“But you didn’t. Kouda did, and if you had had to search the building, the other team may have been able to free themselves, not to mention the extra time it would take. I’m not saying you need to be buddy buddy with everyone here, but it wouldn’t hurt to make some friends among people you’ll be stuck with for years and potential future co-workers.”

Todoroki said nothing, only humming in response as he turned away, the fourth match ready to start. I guess that went as well as I could hope. I’m lucky he even listened to someone who’s basically a stranger. Oh, right, next match. This ought to be good.

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Match 4: Mina and Sero Vs. Tokoyami and Shoji

Oh. This is gonna be good.

As soon as the match started, both teams seemed on their game. Shoji and Tokoyami had knocked out all the lights in the building and had hidden the bomb on the 4^th floor, where both of them were. Shoji had converted all his appendages to ears, and appeared to be listening for Mina and Sero. Tokoyami had summoned some sort of shadow creature and had it patrolling the halls. Oh, I get it! Shoji listens for the other team and directs Tokoyami to take them out with his…shadow? Whatever it is, it’s a near perfect defense.

Ashido and Sero, however, seemed to be moving as one, using their quirks to practically fly through the halls on the first floor, Ashido sliding on acid, and Sero swinging from his tape. The in-sync moves remind of Midoriya and Uraraka. They’re communicating well. Don’t know if that’ll be enough to overcome that nifty defense that the villains set up though.

On crossing to the 2^nd floor, the two teams had their first encounter. Tokoyami’s shadow attacked and chased the two, who seemed to be in sheer terror, though Ethan really couldn’t blame them. Tokoyami’s quirk was a little scary. Luckily for them though, the monster wasn’t that fast, though its speed wasn’t anything to sneeze at either. The heroes kept ahead and were driven on a long chase through the second floor, running the time down to half, 5 minutes remaining.

It seemed the two wouldn’t be breaking the defense anytime soon, though they did make it to the third floor. They seemed poised for another chase when a look of realization seemed to hit Ashido, who then looked to whisper something to Sero, who nodded at her. Ashido took off, shouting and knocking into walls as she headed in the opposite direction of her partner, who was making his way to the stairwell, likely to search the next floor as Ashido could handle this one. She’s making as much noise as possible, acting as a lure for Tokoyami’s shadow, while Sero searches for the bomb. Not bad for something improvised in a few seconds.

Sure enough, the shadow took the bait and started after Ashido, who made sure to keep close, but not enough to be in danger. She even pulled off some dance moves as she did so, taunting the beast, which seemed to make it even angrier. Huh. Girl has some skills.

Meanwhile, Sero was searching the fourth floor quietly, staying off the ground as much as he could in order to not alert the other team. He found the bomb room with 2 minutes left, and flew through the door toward the bomb. It took even Shoji by surprise, though he seemed to hear Sero just before he got in, converting his limbs back to fists. Unfortunately for him, the ceiling of the room was just high enough for the black-haired teen to stay out of the other’s reach. Tokoyami had noticed and appeared to be visibly struggling to pull his quirk away from Ashido. He doesn’t have full control? That could be dangerous. Sero easily dodged the slower Shoji, and secured the bomb with a quick shoot and tug, winning the match for the heroes with only 2 minutes left.

Ethan was honestly pretty impressed. he hadn’t talked to either Ashido or Sero much, which he made note of to rectify, since Ashido seemed like his type of person, but neither struck him as the planning type. Which was still true, but they had communicated well, and Ashido had shown that she was agile and could think well on her feet, as well as perceptive, if she noticed how Tokoyami’s quirk was being lead.

That was not to say that the other side had not been good. Shoji and Tokoyami’s plan had been genius, and it would have been a near perfect defense had they been matched against anyone else. Shoji had also reacted to Sero’s ambush with speed surprising for his size, and had the ceiling been lower, he probably could have blocked his opponent and run out the clock.

This was probably his favorite match so far, both sides had been awesome. He said as much when they arrived back.

“Oh my god, that was so awesome. You guys were all amazing, that match was soooooo cool!”

Ashido grinned widely at that, and Sero accepted his high-five, the two boys giving each other finger guns. Tokoyami nodded at him, and Shoji gave a quick thank you before the briefing began. There was a lot to look at this time, though Psyker had words of praise for all involved.

All in all, a good time. But now, Ethan was looking forward to the last match. Akio Atsushi was a mystery to him, mostly because he could read Todoroki better than he could read Atsushi, and that was saying something. Though his partner was no slouch either. Yaoyorozu seemed like the model student type, so seeing her in action was sure to be interesting. Time to see what Mr. Mysterious and Mrs. Straight-A’s could do.

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1:16, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 6

Morgan was in quite the predicament. The planning phase was a minute in, they had the bomb set up on the third floor, and Morgan had yet to say a word to his partner. Yaoyorozu was trying, but she was losing steam as he still was not responding. He was trying, he really was, but when he did, he was seized by the feeling he still could not name. Yaoyorozu still kept on, beginning to lay traps in the room, indicating that she would be trapping as much of the building as she could.

He needed to focus, and work with his partner. Treat it like a mission, that might help. He had never faltered on a mission, even when he was working with someone he had never met.

Morgan closed his eyes, and tried to slip into his mission mindset. Objective: Protect the bomb, and capture or incapacitate the attackers.

Opponent’s quirks: Electrification, allows large amount of electricity, but can short out user’s brain. One unknown.

Partner’s quirk: Creation, allows user to create objects out of their own body fat.

Partner’s traps would only be partial due to time, and would make it obvious where the bomb room was.

“Wait.”

Yaoyorozu jumped at his voice.

“Yes?”

“Stop laying traps.”

Yaoyorozu looked confused.

“Why? Our objective is to defend the bomb.”

Morgan grimaced.

“You will not have time to trap everywhere. A partial trail will lead them right to the bomb room. We need to obfuscate the bomb’s position. I have an idea.”

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Morgan leaned against the metal slab that had been secured to the second-floor doorway. The match had started about two minutes ago, and he could hear Denki and Jirou’s approaching footsteps. His hearing had been fine tuned over his years of training, and he guessed he had about twenty seconds before they approached his hallway. Denki was as expected, not great at stealth, with Jirou shushing him as they rounded the corner.

Morgan pretended not to notice them, casually leaning on the wall with his staff on hand and looking the other way.

They were predictable, Denki trying, badly, to sneak up on him, with Jirou trying to sneak by. Just as the two were getting close, Morgan turned and fixed them with a cold glare. He had perfected this technique, the “Reaper Glare” as fear had called it, saying it was the second most terrifying look he had seen, second only to Mom’s disappointed grimace. As expected, both teens froze, their bodies locking up in instinctive terror, which was of course the aim.

Morgan took the opportunity to begin his own plan. He detached a flashbang from his belt and tossed it at the two, who were beginning to move after he stopped glaring. The flashbang stunned them for real, and Morgan readied his staff, before charging. Time for his own offensive.

Denki was the main priority, as he seemed to be the most offensively capable. Plan: Take out target yellow, then focus down target purple. A swift boot to the torso sent yellow tumbling and landing on the ground on his back, groaning. That should keep yellow down for now, if not for the rest of the time Morgan needed. He could finish them off after purple was eliminated.

Target Purple was shaking off the flashbang, so he needed to move now. He went for a leg sweep, best to knock them down then finish them. But the target proved agile, jumping away from his sweep, and then lashing out at him with appendages attached to their ears. Those likely had something to do with their quirk. He dodged the attack, and followed up his first attack with a brutal downward swing. The target dodged that too.

Reaper kept up the offensive, and the target still kept dodging. This one was…mildly frustrating due to their speed, but no matter. They had to back up to evade his wide swipes, and this hallway backed up to a sharp turn. They were being backed into a wall, and they did not know it. Once that happened, he could back them to the corner, then eliminate them.

Soon enough, the target’s back hit the wall, and one more swipe forced them to back further into a corner. Nowhere to run. Reaper charged his staff with a necrotic veil, and readied it. One more swipe would end this, then he could finish the other target. His earpiece crackled.

“Atsushi, are you okay? I hear fighting, do you need assistance? have you encountered Kaminari and Jirou yet?”

Yaoyorozu’s voice violently snapped Morgan back to reality. What was he doing? The veil on his staff dropped, and he froze. Was he about to kill Jirou!? This was what he should have seen happening! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What would you have done if you had killed her? Killed Kaminari? Killed the heroes who came to arrest you for murdering an innocent teen? Morgan felt…. something. It felt like a weight on his back, one that was oppressive and all consuming. His thoughts began to spiral, but he was pulled out of them as a massive shock went through his body.

Pain. Massive amounts of pain coursed through his veins like wires. Denki had been given time to sneak up on Morgan due to his freeze, and now he was paying for it. The pain left him on one knee, using his staff to support himself. He felt Jirou secure something on his wrist, and saw capture tape. He was out of the match.

Jirou looked to Denki, who seemed shocked that he had been able to pull his sneak attack off.

“Pretty good attack. Clever, for an idiot.”

Denki’s initial smile at the compliment gave way to offense.

“Thanks, I really- Wait a minute, hey!”

Jirou ignored him, and turned to the doorway he had been guarding. It was blocked over with a plate of steel, and seemed secure. Denki sidled up next to her, staring at it.

“Think this is the bomb room? I mean, why else would he be guarding it?”

Jirou walked up to the door, and her ear jacks clanged as they tried to plug in to the steel. Jirou backed up, her face turning an embarrassed pink before she moved over to the wall. This time, her jacks plugged in, and she appeared to listen for a few seconds.

“Pretty quiet. Yaoyorozu might be trying to stay silent, either that or this room is empty, but we can’t be sure.”

Denki smirked.

“So let’s charge in!”

His smile fell.

“But, uh, how do we get past this big steel plate?”

Jirou smirked.

“Leave that to me.”

She walked up to the sheet, and her jacks plugged into sections on her boots. Almost immediately, waves of sound burst out from the front, blowing the plate back and opening up the door. Denki charged in, his hands sparking, but his sparks died as he saw the inside.

“It’s empty!”

Morgan smirked despite his muscles still being locked up due to Denki’s shock. The plan worked. Jirou called out to Denki, her tone seeming rushed.

“We have to leave, and find the real bomb room. If we hurry-“

She was cut off as All Might’s voice boomed over their earpieces.

“TIME HAS RUN OUT! VILLAINS WIN!”

Morgan was taken by surprise as well. Ten minutes had passed already. His perception of time must have been warped due to his mental state.

Yaoyorozu reached them a minute later, and helped Morgan to his feet. She was smiling slightly. Her eyes widened as she surveyed the scene.

“Did you fight them both?”

Morgan nodded despite the soreness of his muscles.

“You secured our victory. I feel as if I did nothing in comparison.”

Morgan grimaced. Self-doubt was not healthy.

“You were incredibly helpful. The diversion would not have worked without you, as the only reason they did not catch on early was because the room was hidden. As well, your sheet would have slowed them and run out the clock if they had gotten past me.”

He offered Yaoyorozu a slight smile.

“Thank you.”

She seemed taken a back, but she smiled back.

“Thank you, but it really was nothing.”

Morgan was about to reply when Denki ran up to the two, Jirou close behind. The four teens began a walk back to the observation room, Denki striking up a conversation.

“Dude, where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Morgan mulled over how to respond in his head. A half-truth would work best.

“My mom.”

“Well remind me never to make her mad. Yeesh”

Morgan smirked.

“Noted.”

The rest of the trip was a comfortable chatter, and it helped to distract him from the weight on his chest that still had not left.

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4:10 PM, UA High, Classroom 1-A

That was definitely an…Interesting first hero class. Once the battle trials had finished, they had been shooed out the door and back to the changing rooms to finish out the day. Psyker and All Might said they would review the footage with Aizawa and come back with critiques.

The rest of the day had been pretty boring, though notable that poor Midoriya missed all of it. Atsushi hah had to miss a period due to electrical burns, but he was back after that.

Midoriya came in soon after school had finished, and many of Class 1-A were still chatting in the classroom. Everyone gathered around the embarrassed greenette, buzzing about his win, since no one was able to talk to him about it at the time. Ethan did too, slapping him on the back and exclaiming,

“Didn’t know you had it in ya! Good job man!”

Midoriya had blushed and muttered a thanks before turning back to the crowd, who were now introducing themselves, since the boy hadn’t spent a day introducing himself like Ethan, though he really didn’t blame him.

Bored, Ethan turned toward Iida’s admonishing of Tokoyami using his desk as a seat, something about ‘respecting school property’. He smirked. Target acquired.

Ethan put on a smile as he walked past to his seat.

“Yeah Tokoyami, you should really show these desks the proper respect, you know?”

He then proceeded to sit down and put his feet up on the desk.

‘Honestly, the nerve!”

Iida chopped his hand wildly at him.

“Miscreants, both of you!”

Ethan chuckled, but tuned Iida out as he spotted Uraraka, Kaminari, and Atsushi come in through the door, each carrying a small stack of textbooks. Kaminari appeared to be trying to flirt with the pink cheeked girl, but was shut down as Uraraka spotted Midoriya. The blonde slumped in defeat, Atsushi awkwardly putting a hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort. Poor guy, he has absolutely no chance. That girl got it bad for our resident green-haired nerd.

Ethan stood out of his seat and moved closer now that the crowd around Midoriya had thinned. The other boy was asking about Bakugou, looking concerned. Okay, now I know there’s something between them. Why is he worried about that guy? The spiky blonde had left as soon as possible, and had seemed more agitated than usual.

Once he heard that, Midoriya had rushed out the door after gathering his things. Ethan quirked his eyebrow before heading to his desk and grabbing his things. No way am I missing a chance to unravel a mystery like Midoriya and Bakugou’s relationship. He walked to the door, before he turned his head to address the class with a wide smile.

“Gotta go, guys! Tsu, Hagakure, we good to sit at lunch tomorrow?”

“Fine with me, Kero.”

“Sure!”

“Alright, Bye!”

Ethan took off like a rocket. Midoriya had a head start, but he could flatten that pretty quick. Once he caught up, he made sure to keep Midoriya in his sight, while remaining quiet. Don’t want him to realize I’m spying. Looks like all those stealth missions did have a purpose, Epsilon. As luck would have it, Midoriya was also distracted as he raced ahead. It was child’s play to stay hidden and follow.

Midoriya caught up to Bakugou just in front of the school gate, and Ethan just managed to hide himself behind one of the closer pillars lining UA’s front walkway as the two began to talk.

Bakugou had stopped once Midoriya called out, irritation obvious from his movements.

“I have to tell you something.”

A secret? This should be interesting.

“I wasn’t hiding my quirk from you. It was given to me by someone else, recently.”

What. Am I short-circuiting? I have to be, one of the implants in my head has to be blown, because I swear he just said that someone GAVE him a quirk. All sounds faded out as Ethan’s thoughts went into overdrive. I mean, the institute has sort of done that, but who could be doing that on earth? They don’t have any of the technology for it. Maybe it was someone’s quirk that let them pass it on? Not impossible, but then who?

Wait. Midoriya’s quirk gives him incredible strength, and I saw All Might spying on him during the Quirk Apprehension test (thanks Atsushi). Oh my god Midoriya is All Might’s apprentice! Could it be All Might’s quirk can be passed between people? But then, how did All Might get it? If he were born with it, how did he figure out it could be passed on? And if he was given it, who gave it to him, and how far back would this line go? And if All Might gave Midoriya his quirk, then how is he still-

“Ahem.”

Ethan’s though train suddenly derailed as someone cleared their throat quietly behind him. He turned, only to see All Might standing behind him, looking less than pleased he was spying on other students, who appeared to have finished their conversation, Bakugou walking away angrily. The Symbol of Peace walked past Ethan, and approached Bakugou, grabbing him by the shoulders, and shouting something about heroism. The teen shrugged him off and continued his walk. Looking a bit wilted, All Might turned to Midoriya.

“So, young Midoriya, what were you saying before I got here?”

Midoriya tried to evade the question, but All Might persisted. Eventually, the beans were spilled, and the truth came out. At that, the Symbol of Peace’s ever-present smile vanished.

“You told young Bakugou what!?”

Ethan paled a little at that reaction. If Bakugou wasn’t supposed to hear that, no way  would I be fit to. I’m in danger. From what Midoriya was saying, it seemed like he and Bakugou used to be close friends, so there was his initial curiosity sated. Small victories. Midoriya appeared to have realized revealing a secret like this had been stupid, and his face dropped.

“Oh don’t look so sad. He didn’t take you seriously, so I don’t think He’ll say anything. This time I’ll let it slide. Just make sure this doesn’t happen again. You need to think carefully about the responsibility that comes with this power.”

The weight he uses those words…Is this some big deal power?”

“If word got out that One For All could be passed on,”

What the hell is One For All? Is that his quirk? Sounds a little grandiose.

“Villains across the globe would come for you trying to take it.”

Must be valuable. But I gotta get out of here. Now, how can I get past them?

“You must keep this secret to ensure your own wellbeing true, but also for the safety of the world, understand?”

Maybe there’s a back entrance?

“Yes All Might!”

Alright, just gotta sneak back to the front doors and-

“Good, but we have one other thing to deal with.”

Oh no.

Before Ethan could react, All Might had made his way over, grabbed him by the back of his uniform, and then raced back, hoisting Ethan up in front of a shocked Midoriya.

“It seems you had an eavesdropper.”

Dangling about 6 feet above the ground Ethan grinned nervously and waved awkwardly, before he said the only thing he could think of.

“I’m In trouble, aren’t I?”

Notes:

Yeah, I really enjoyed writing the last part of this one. Ethan is a bit too nosy for his own good, and that is going to have some major consequences going forward. I already have the opening part of Chapter 7 written, so hopefully I won't be so slow to post next time, though we'll see, as I can be a master procrastinator. Chapter 7 is when shit really hits the fan, and we see some major changes to canon, though that will be happening more and more we progress, especially when we get to the internship and training camp arcs. Oh boy do I have plans for those. Anyways, see you guys next time, reviews are welcome, and I hope you have a great week! Bye!

Chapter 7: Take it easy, 1-A!

Summary:

Class 1-A adapts to the schedule of UA after the battle trials. Ethan finds out a major secret, divulges one of his own, and makes a new friend, while Morgan wrestles with new feelings and makes a few new friends of his own. Everything seems to be going well, so of course something had to go wrong.

Notes:

Hey everyone! Good news, I'm not dead! I got caught up with life, work was kicking my ass, and in the middle of it all, school started and my family started moving. So it has been a while since I've posted, which is a bit mean, since I left last chapter on a cliffhanger. Thankfully, I'm eager to write the next chapter, so expect an update soon. As well, I've got a new project I'm working on, so expect something new soon! This is kind of a transitional chapter between the two main arcs of season one, so its all talking. No action, unfortunately. But that is rectified, because the USJ arc begins next chapter, and that will be mostly action for two or three chapters. Anyways, enjoy! I know I did.

4:20 PM, UA High, Staff Room

Ethan was nervous. After his embarrassing exposure to Midoriya, All Might had walked the two teens back to one of the empty staff rooms, where they had promptly sat down, and had been silent for about a minute now, Ethan not wanting to say anything. He knew they wouldn’t kill him, neither was the type, but there were some unpleasant options depending on if the school were in on it, like expulsion and forced silence, though it was likely they would keep him here, better to be able to monitor him than have him out in the world where they couldn’t.

All Might spoke 1^st.

“How much did you hear young Gray?”

That’s also another way of saying “How long were you eavesdropping?”. Not subtle, but it’s likely that a lie could blow up in my face here. Ethan sighed.

“All of it. I followed you after you left the classroom, Midoriya.”

The boy started at this, and Ethan couldn’t help but smirk a little. He had had no idea.

“I was curious about your deal with Bakugou. You guys seemed to know each other, but I didn’t know how. So I followed you to see if I could figure it out from your conversation, but I was honestly not expecting to hear your big secret though.”

Ethan chuckled nervously.

“So you’re All Might’s protégé?”

Midoriya started at that, but he nodded, and Ethan couldn’t help but congratulate him with a small pat on his shoulder.

“Good job there, you really lucked out.”

All Might cut off any further questions.

“You should not have done what you did young Gray. Not only is it wrong to eavesdrop on your classmates, but you also stumbled upon a secret that only a few know.”

Ethan felt a little bit of guilt at that. Got too nosy again. Guess Alpha was right when she said it would get me into deep shit one day.

All Might sighed.

“But I suppose this would happen eventually. It can be hard to keep a secret, especially for teenagers.”

Ethan sensed there was more to that statement than All Might let on.

“So, I might as well inform you of the gravity of what you heard. But first, do you promise you will not tell this to anyone?”

Ethan grinned.

“I promise. But how about once you finish, I tell you a secret? That way it feels like an exchange.”

All Might chuckled. “I doubt whatever you may tell is as impactful as what I will reveal, but I admire your sense of fairness. You have a deal.”

And with that, smoke rose off of All Might, and with a poof, the symbol of peace had disappeared, leaved a frail stick of a man in his clothes.

What.

Once he had calmed down, the explanation began, first on his injury, which had occurred 5 years ago and had limited the time he could be active. Makes sense. During my research, I did notice the number of cases he resolved had dropped by quite a bit, along with his press appearances too. That fits.

Then he had explained One-For-All, a quirk passed from person to person, gaining power as it went, a ‘sacred torch’ passed through the generations to fight evil, though Ethan sensed there was more to it than that, but didn’t push it.

Midoriya was All Might’s successor, the 9^th user, and still had a lot to learn, as his body was not used to a quirk. Explains why he exploded the bones in his arms. Must be a lot of power.

All in all, the entire explanation lasted a little over ten minutes, and Ethan felt a little numb after it. That is a lot to take in. He was silent for about 2 minutes, Midoriya looking concerned.

“Um, Gray, are you alright?”

Ethan shook his head, clearing the cobwebs from it.

“I’m fine, just a lot to take in.”

Ethan stood from his seat opposite the other teen, walked over, and put his hand on Midoriya’s shoulder, giving the greenette a concerned look.

“Are you alright? That’s an awful lot to live up to.”

Midoriya nodded, a fire in his eyes that Ethan thought made him look pretty cool.

“Yes! I trained for months to inherit All Might’s power! I’m going to be a hero who saves people with a smile!”

Ethan smiled. Got a spine, do we? I guess I misjudged you by a lot.

“I figured. Just wanted to make sure.”

He straightened up.

“Well your end is done, time for my part.”

Midoriya tried to object.

“You really don’t have to- “

Ethan cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“No, no. We had a deal. Besides, trust is a two-way street and I think you really might need someone to trust,” Ethan looked over to the stick figure of a man beside the greenette. “Who’s your age. So…”

Ethan stood up, taking off his uniform coat and tie, before he grabbed the black sleeve over his right arm and pulled it off. Both All Might and Midoriya looked shocked to see the cybernetic arm. Ethan flexed it a few times, before turned it and moving it through the full range of motions. The two others in the room were deathly quiet, meaning the only sound in the room was the quiet whir of his arm moving. Once he had done that, he looked over to Midoriya, who looked visibly shocked.

“How did you- “

He was cut off as Ethan spoke, his voice having lost any of his previous flippancy.

“There’s more”

He turned and lifted up his shirt. This time there were audible gasps, likely at the small bits of metal sticking out of his skin and moving all the way up his spine, stopping just below his shoulder blades. He waited for a minute, before he put his shirt down, put his sleeve on, and put his coat on (he really didn’t feel like tying his tie). Then, he sat down, looking to the two who were still sitting, paler, and he thought he saw All Might shaking a bit. Ethan continued on.

“That’s just the visible stuff too. I have wires running through parts of my body replacing some veins, and various bones are replaced with metal versions. That metal you saw sticking out my back? That was my spine, or, well, my replacement.”

All Might’s voice cut through the air like a knife, his tone deadly serious.

“How did this happen to you, young Grey?”

Ethan looked to him, a solemn expression on his face.

“I don’t think you want to know”

At that, All Might’s expression changed. He seemed angry. Guess he figured out that the real question is ‘who did this to you?’ His speculation was proven right as the Symbol of Peace asked, voice shaking in anger,

“Did someone do this to you, young Grey?”

Ethan looked down, all but confirming his answer.

He heard a growl. All Might had growled.

“Who!?”

Ethan looked down. Do I tell them? Maybe I could, it would be good to get this off my chest, but if I do this wrong, they might think I’m nuts and send me to a psych ward or worse…Therapy. Ethan shuddered slightly at that. And what if they do believe me, but they send me to jail? I know I’ve done some pretty heinous things, but they wouldn’t, would they? He sighed.

“I’m not sure you would believe me.”

All of a sudden, Ethan heard someone sit up lightning quick, and soon after, he felt an iron grip on his shoulder, he looked up into the face of Izuku Midoriya. His eyes were steely with determination and kindness as he said in a firm voice,

“Try us. Please, just tell, Gray.”

Ethan looked away before he let out a groan of annoyance.

“Fine.”

Midoriya nodded, before sitting back down, and motioned for him to start.

“Alright then, the truth is, I haven’t exactly been… Present, for quite a while. I’m officially listed as missing back in America, have been for nearly a decade. My parents, well I did the research. They’re officially listed as having ‘died under mysterious circumstance’. Look up Gregory and Anne Gray of you don’t believe me on that.  I can tell you what happened.”

Ethan paused as he looked to his audience, both of whom seemed rapt at his story, but also solemn. They must be able to guess where this was going. All Might gestured for him to continue. Ethan went on.

“It was just a few days after my 6^th birthday. These strange men came into our house, demanding mom and dad hand me over. I don’t remember much, only that part, and that when they refused, they were killed. They then took me, and went… off planet. To space, a place far away.”

Both listener’s eyes widened in shock at that, but Ethan saw no disbelief. Good. At least they don’t think I’m crazy. He kept going.

“For the next two years, I was in a big white lab, where some jackass scientists tore me apart and put me back together over and over and over and over and- “His thoughts started to spiral, and he started to shake. Please no not again I’ll be good what did I do where are mommy and daddy, PLEASE NO NO NO NO NO-

Two hands on his shoulders snapped him back to reality. He shook his head, before looking up into Midoriya’s worried gaze. He blinked.

“Sorry, did I scare you guys?”

All Might nodded, looking slightly panicked

“You suddenly stopped talking and were unresponsive for two minutes, then you started shaking. We were seriously considering calling for help.”

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Sorry. That hasn’t happened for a while”

All Might raised an eyebrow.

“This has happened before?”

Ethan grimaced.

“Unfortunately. Happens when I recall…. That.”

All Might frowned.

“Young Grey, you don’t have to continue if you- “

Ethan waved his hand dismissively.

“No, no. I should be fine.”

Midoriya shot him a skeptical look. Ethan huffed.

“Look, I’m just gonna keep going. So after two years, I was mostly as you see today, and the people who took me trained me and then put me to work as a soldier of sorts. Infiltration, assassination, enforcement, retrieval. I did it all for 5 years, before I finally escaped, and spent another 2 years looking for what I needed to get home. I crash-landed in Japan, and the rest is history.”

Ethan finished off with a dramatic gesture to the air.

“And that’s it. That’s my story.”

He looked to the two other occupants of the room, who seemed stunned by his tale. All Might looked downright horrified.

“You’ve gone through a lot young Gray. Anyone might break under that kind of experience. But you seem, well, fine is not the right word. Despite your experiences you seem to have stayed positive, and that is a quality I truly respect.”

Midoriya piped up beside All Might.

“Yeah, you’re really strong, Gray!”

Ethan smiled. Haven’t had encouragement like this since Psi. Feels good.

“Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. I’ve got crap to work out, but I want to do something good with my life, and UA seems like a good place to do that.”

All Might laughed, transforming briefly into his muscular form.

“I’m sure you’ll make a great hero! Just keep going, young Gray!”

Ethan smirked.

“Thanks again. Now, I think it’s getting late. Midoriya?”

The greenette looked up, seeming distracted.

“Yes, Gray?”

“First off, you can just call me Ethan. I just shared my darkest secret with you, we’re there.”

Midoriya nodded vigorously.

“Got it, Gr-Ethan.”

“Second, you wanna walk home together? I think I’m actually in your building since I saw you around once or twice.”

“Sure Ethan. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your quirk and your cybernetics? I’m curious how they interact.”

Ethan grinned.

“Sure. Now let’s get going.”

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7:30 AM, UA High Staff Room, April 14^th.

Aizawa was tired, as always. He’d pulled another late patrol, and had to work on his lesson plan since it seemed it needed adaptation. Overall, that amounted to about 4 total hours of sleep. He wanted nothing more than to curl up into his sleeping bag and let the rest of this world fade away, but that could wait. There was work to be done now, and he had a golden opportunity later today anyways. The problem children would be picking their class rep today, and that would be a great time to catch at least a few minutes of sleep. Right now he had to debrief with All Might and Psyker about their first heroics course. The data they received yesterday could be invaluable in helping this class grow.

Said other heroes were sitting across from him. All Might looked rather distracted, the skinnier man gazing out a window for a little while before Psyker snapped him out of it, his voice carrying a hint of irritation.

“All Might! Earth to All Might?”

The blonde’s head snapped up, looking to their gray-haired comrade.

“Ah, yes, I’m here, Gray. Thank you. I’m sorry, I’ve just had some things to think about recently.”

Psyker frowned a little at that.

“If you say so. Let’s get to the debriefs.”

“Before we start individual breakdowns, Psyker, what are your impressions?”

Aizawa was curious. Psyker was an experienced teacher, he actually had 2 years of teaching on him, so hearing his perspective on 1-A ought to be interesting.

Psyker gave him a serious look. Was this really the same person as the one he’d met yesterday, panicked, and running late like an idiot?

“Overall, this class may just be one of the best I’ve seen in years. They all have potential to be great heroes. Everyone gave it their all. Guess you guys really follow that whole ‘Plus Ultra’ motto, huh?”

He grinned.

“I have a few notes you may want to see, a few concerns, but overall, this class seems like it’ll be great!”

Aizawa wished he could share his enthusiasm.

He turned to the monitor they had set up, to watch the recording of each match, where the first was just starting. Aizawa immediately paid attention.

Of course the first match involved two of the biggest problem children. Of course. Psyker huffed when Aizawa gave him a look.

“Wasn’t my idea. The universe must really hate us since these were random.”

Really. Aizawa had a feeling Psyker’s theory held some water, considering he was saddled with this class, and not Vlad. Kan always seemed to get the more orderly classes, while Aizawa was stuck with the demons.

All that aside, the match was... illuminating in some ways. Iida had shown tactical thinking and fast reactions, though he was of course hampered by his teammate’s own unwillingness to actually work together. His skills allowed him to not be an easy target for Uraraka, forcing Midoriya to use his reckless, but admittedly clever plan.

Speaking of, Aizawa was right in one thing. Midoriya was going to be his chief headache. The kid had too much potential to be expelled, if his win over Bakugou was any indication. He was able to think on his feet, communicated well, and used his opponent’s strength against him, securing his team a win. But he had also been foolhardy, seeming not to care about his own well-being. He had been a decoy for an aggressive classmate for most of the match, and in order to win he had broken his arm yet again. It was the mentality he hated in heroes, one of the reasons he was not exactly fond of UA’s motto. They broke themselves in grand, sweeping sacrifices that weren’t needed and forced teammates to guard a now useless friend. All in the name of going “Plus Ultra”.  He needed to break that habit of Midoriya’s before he got himself killed.

Uraraka had been a surprise. It was no surprise she was a team player, but that final move had been clever, if reckless, which Psyker defended.

“Sometimes reckless is all you got. Better a reckless plan than no plan at all. Plus, she has a perfect quirk to mitigate damage from any brash plans. She needs to work on her aim though. Hitting a bomb in a real scenario would not be good.”

Bakugou was about what he expected. The Blonde radiated potential like he radiated anger and arrogance. He was smart, able to think on his feet, and incredibly powerful, while also having fewer drawbacks than Midoriya. But he was careless, angry, and easily baited by grudges. If he had worked with Iida, they may have been unstoppable since they were both clever and clearly capable of strategy. It would have rendered Midoriya and Uraraka’s only advantage moot. But he hadn’t. He had been rash, and had nearly killed a classmate with that big blast of his. Psyker expressed his sentiments bluntly.

“He needs self-control. That kind of move is potentially deadly, and he also heavily damaged the building, potentially harming civilians if they were below. Plus, he didn’t even attempt to work with Iida. If it wasn’t for the differing rules here, he would have been subject to the patented Psyker Treatment^tm for that stunt with the gauntlet.”

Aizawa quirked an eyebrow, wondering what rule could be in place to prevent that, and what this Psyker Treatment^tm was that the rules would keep him from enacting it. But no matter, the match was quite illuminating, but he needed to move on.

“Alright. Next.”

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12:30 AM, UA High, Cafeteria

“Hey! Atsushi! Over here!”

Morgan was pulled out of his thoughts as Denki’s enthusiastic voice called out to him. He looked over to see the energetic blonde waving to him from a table that included him, Jirou, and Yaoyorozu. This was a little different since he had only sat with Denki the past two days. The sight of Jirou brought that feeling he still couldn’t name back, along with the same weight. Still, he would rather sit there than sit or with a full table of people he did not know. So, he walked over and placed his lunch down, sitting next to Denki. The other boy smiled at him.

“You okay? You’ve been quiet…er than usual.”

He wasn’t, but Morgan could not tell him why, so he gave him a look he hoped was reassuring, though he was sure it was just blank.

“I am fine. I have just been thinking.”

Denki leaned closer.

“About the Match yesterday? Me too! That was crazy, how you and Yaomomo got us.”

Yaoyorozu blinked.

“Yaomomo?”

Denki looked over at her, giving a disarming grin.

“Yeah, Yaoyorozu, Momo, Yaomomo! That’s okay, right?”

Yaoyorozu looked taken aback a bit, before she gave a small smile.

“I’ve… never had a nickname. It’s fine, I’m just not used to it”

Denki smiled.

“Great! Anyways, you guys were so cool! Especially that glare you pulled out.”

Yaomomo looked confused. She had missed the fight, so Morgan did not blame her.

“Glare?”

Jirou nodded, speaking up.

“Yeah, it was crazy, this cold look that froze me for like ten seconds. Was like my body just couldn’t move. How did you do that?”

Morgan felt a smirk make its way onto his face.

“Practice.”

And years of intense training to remove all warmth and human compassion from his eyes, but that part did not need to be said.

Jirou Quirked an eyebrow.

“Some practice.”

“Yes.”

Jirou shook her head and gave a small smirk.

“You’re pretty weird, you know?”

Morgan tilted his head slightly

“I have been told that before, yes.”

Jirou and Yaomomo chuckled at that. The former smiled a little.

“At least you seem smarter than Kaminari.”

The other blonde balked at that.

“Hey, come on!”

This time it was Morgan’s turn to chuckle. He no longer felt the heaviness in his chest anymore.

Jirou looked over to Yaomomo once Kaminari finished.

“Oh yeah, congrats on being vice rep by the way.”

Yaomomo looked down, though she did still smile.

“Thank you, but I did not get class president like I wanted. I guess I simply did not impress everyone.”

Morgan didn’t look up from his food, though he did grimace. He had sat out the election, having no interest in being the class president. He recalled having voted for Yaomomo though, thinking her level head would be just what was needed to lead a group like 1-A. Unfortunately, four had chosen Midoriya, making the poor greenette the class president. He seemed utterly unprepared, and Morgan was not exactly sure why anyone had chosen him, with no disrespect to Midoriya of course. He just did not seem like the leader type.

Kaminari spoke up.

“Hey, that’s not true! I mean, you were a really big part in winning the match, and you were first in the apprehension test! You are so cool!”

Morgan decided to cut in as well.

“He is right. You were integral to our victory. We only won by planning together.”

Yaoyorozu’s smile widened as she heard the encouragement. She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by loud, blaring alarms.

Morgan was at attention immediately. An alarm like that in a place like this could only mean one thing. Some type of breach. His speculation was proven right as a voice rang through the cafeteria.

“Level 3 Breach. Level 3 Breach”

Denki was confused, catching a nearby student by his arm. The boy, a third year, looked panicked.

“Hey, what’s going on. What’s a Level Three breach?”

“It means someone has managed to get onto the grounds of UA unauthorized! This hasn’t happened in all three years of my time here!”

The older boy ran off after that, toward the crowded hall. Morgan’s mind went into overdrive. Someone on school grounds? Could it be The Order? Maybe they’ve tracked him down and are making their move? No, it’s not their style. They would not cause a scene like this. But for now, he needed to keep his classmates safe. He put out his arm, blocking his tablemates from following the crowd. He would not be able to keep track of and protect them in there. Jirou gave him a confused look.

“Why are you blocking us? We need to evacuate.”

“The hall is going to be congested. We could get hurt if we follow. It is better to stay here for now.”

Morgan sat back down, followed by a confused Denki and Yaomomo, then a skeptical Jirou. Morgan would worry about the breach later. Here he could keep an eye on his friends, keep them safe. He just had to hope the rest of 1-A would be alright. Besides, he had some rice to finish.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

11:10 AM, April 15^th

Iida is really hustling. Guess he really takes this ‘Class Rep’ thing seriously. Ethan smiled. Good. At least someone here’s responsible. Don’t think Midoriya, bless his heart, would’ve been equipped for this. Ethan had mostly sat out and watched the chaos that had occurred, chuckling as everyone shouted out and made their teacher, who had been trying to sleep, very irritated.

He had voted for Midoriya, thinking that having 2 votes would make the guy flail and it would be funny, but unfortunately Uraraka and Iida got the stupid virus and voted for him because they legitimately thought he’d be good. Thank God Midoriya knows his limits. He dropped that job on Iida as soon as he could, and I don’t blame him one bit. Though I do feel bad for Yaoyorozu.

Ethan rolled his eyes a bit as Iida called him to get on, shouting about a boarding strategy. The bus, much to Iida’s chagrin, was a more open layout.

Ethan, of course sat next to Tsu, who offered him a hello. He smiled back as he saw Midoriya sit on Tsu’s other side. That’s convenient. Midoriya is so fun to mess with. The other boy was wearing his sports uniform and a few pieces of equipment, his costume having been wrecked during the battle trials. He was the only one not in full costume. Ethan thought it was a good warning for Aizawa to give, but no one was going to choose not to wear them. He himself knew he would be fine, this outfit similar enough to his previous outfit he would have little trouble.

Rescue training was intriguing. Unlike combat, Ethan wasn’t trained in rescues. Not really a skill that was needed. He knew a bit about treatment and repairs, he needed to take care of his and the other Collective Members’ wounds on the field after all, so he did have at least a small leg up on his classmates, but he had no idea about anything else. So this was going to be fun. I can already think of a few ways I could use my quirk. Most of us here have something applicable, in fact.

Soon enough they were on the road to the remote facility. Apparently, this was a newer addition too, but that was neither here nor there. Ethan looked around, trying to find a way to alleviate his boredom. His ears caught Iida’s complaints. Geez, Mr. Uptight needs to chill. Just cause your boarding strategy didn’t work doesn’t mean it’s a tragedy. Mina of course, voiced his thoughts aloud, and Tsu interjected.

“As long as we’re pointing out the obvious,”

Can’t tell if that was a burn on Iida, Mina, or both.

“Then there’s something I wanna say.”

She turned to Midoriya.

“About you, actually.”

The Greenette seemed nervous at that.

“A-about me? What is it Asui?

“I told you to call me Tsu.”

“O-oh. Right.”

Are we sure this is the same kid who took out a 0-pointer with a single punch?

“That power of yours, Isn’t it a lot like All Might’s?”

Ethan had to keep his laugh in when he heard that. He must have looked a little weird, since Mina gave him a concerned look. He waved her off. Tsu has no idea how close she is. Of course it didn’t help his attempt to stop laughing when Midoriya started floundering spectacularly.

“W-w-wow, really? I never really thought about it like that.”

How the hell am I the only one who caught this?

“Hold on Tsu. You’re forgetting that All Might doesn’t hurt himself. That makes a huge difference.”

Huh. Good unintentional save Kirishima.

Ethan decided to throw in a bit of fuel for the fire.

“Could be a difference in training, ya know. All Might’s a veteran pro after all.”

Midoriya’s initial relief at Kirishima turned to panic, flailing his arms as he stuttered. That was too much, and Ethan hunched over, trying, and failing, to keep in his laughter. His shoulders trembled, and Tsu looked over, her concern felt. Ethan waved his hand at her as he finally stopped.

“I’m alright.”

Kirishima shrugged and moved to a new topic.

“Anyways, it must be nice to have such a simple augmenting quirk. You can do a lot of flashy stuff with it.”

Like take out a 4-story robot in one punch.

“My Hardening’s super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn’t look all that impressive.”

Ethan waved his hand dismissively.

“That doesn’t matter much. Just ‘cause your quirk doesn’t seem flashy on the surface doesn’t mean you can’t use it in flashy ways. You just gotta think about it.”

Ethan tapped the area between his eyes.

“Like mine for example. Cat’s Eye isn’t really all that grand in the visual department either, but it can lend itself to some cool moves with the right bit of creativity.”

Ethan reached into his pocket, pulling out a small ball bearing.

“Like for example…I can look into the future and see that if I throw this ball bearing right…there!”

His eyes flashed and he threw the bearing right at Mina, who immediately dodged, letting out a small shriek. The ball bounced with a small metallic clink before ricocheting around, just barely avoiding hitting a few other students, before flying back into Ethan’s hand. He pocketed the ball, ignoring a few glares sent his way and smirking at Kirishima’s astounded look.

“See? Any quirk can be flashy. You just gotta work harder than other. I think you’ve already got a good start.”

Midoriya joined in the encouragement.

“Ethan’s right Kirishima! I think your quirk looks really cool!”

Kirishima looked taken aback, before he smiled.

“Thanks bros.”

Ethan quirked an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on the label.

The exchange got everyone talking, starting a big conversation about the class’s quirks. Aoyama’s boasts got shot down by Mina’s snark, leaving the other boy looking very put out. Jirou took the opportunity to mock Kaminari, though lightly, since Atsushi was sitting next to her. Finally, the obvious was stated.

“Well if anyone’s got pro quirks, it’s Todoroki and Bakugou.”

The mention got the explosive blonde’s attention from his seat near the front of the bus, looking over, glaring at everyone around him. Todoroki glanced away from the bus window for a brief moment, but didn’t engage further. Ethan offered a wave, but the split-haired teen didn’t respond. Tsu sated the obvious from beside him, showing 0 fear.

“Sure, but Bakugou’s always angry, so he’ll never be very popular.”

The predictable occurred.

“WHAT’D YOU SAY? I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!!”

Ethan grinned. Before snarking back.

“Why not chill a bit, Blasty? You’re only proving her point.”

This only made the walking grenade angrier as he turned his furious look to Ethan.

“THE HELL YOU JUST SAY CAT EYES? YOU WANNA GO? I’LL SEND YOUR ASS STRAIGHT TO THE SUN!”

Tsu, completely unaffected by the current situation, just motioned to Bakugou.

“See?”

Kaminari chose now to pipe up.

“You know, it is pretty telling that we basically just met you and yet we can already tell your personality is flaming garbage mixed with crap.”

Ethan snickered at that, reaching out a fist bumping Kaminari as Bakugou roared in the background.

“YOU’RE GOING TO REGRET THE DAY YOU APLLIED TO THIS SCHOOL YOU LOSERS!”

The dialogue went on for a while, more quips exchanged, more threat thrown at everyone, before Class 1-A finally disembarked from the bus. I was right. Bakugou is going to be so much fun to mess with.

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11:00 PM, UA High, USJ facility

Morgan was impressed. He had seen quite a lot when it came to training facilities, The Order was quite wealthy owing to numerous businesses and donations to the charity, but he had never seen anything quite like this. A massive domed building stood in front of the class, from Morgan’s own estimations about four football fields in diameter. Standing in front of the building was a figure in a strange white suit, along with Psyker.

“Hello everyone! I’ve been waiting for you!”

“Uh, yeah. Hey class.”

At first look, Morgan couldn’t recognize the white-suited person. But he caught from Midoriya and Uraraka’s conversation that this was The Space hero, Thirteen. Once he heard the name, he remembered. His research on heroes had briefly touched on Thirteen. They were one of the leading rescue heroes, and a major figure for the non-binary community. That explained why they were here, then. He was curious about Psyker though. This seemed like his first time at this facility too, given the way he was looking back at it in awe. Once everyone was assembled, Thirteen waved their gloved hand and walked inside, Mr. Aizawa and Psyker following close behind, and Class 1-A following behind them.

If the outside was impressive, the inside was a truly awe-inspiring. The upper deck they were on lead down to a central plaza, which itself lead to a series of different environments, from a shipwreck to a mountain to smaller domes which presumably had more environments in them. This was new, and Morgan felt something, another feeling welling up in his chest. It seemed that was happening more and more lately.

Thirteen waved their arms dramatically as they explained the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ. The rest of the class had a look on their face at the acronym that Morgan could not quite decipher. Did they know something he did not? Though Gray looked as confused as he did, nudging and whispering something at Tsu, who seemed to explain it to him. That made him feel slightly better.

Aizawa took thirteen an Psyker aside afterwards, inquiring as to something Morgan couldn’t catch. Perhaps All Might’s absence? Thirteen held up three fingers, Psyker nodding his head. Aizawa groaned before the teachers turned back to the class. Aizawa walking over to a pillar and leaning on it as Thirteen and Psyker stepped forward to address the teens.

“Alright, let me say one thing. Or maybe two things. Three, four, maybe five?”

“My colleague may like rambling, but pay attention. I’ll be helping today since I’ve got a bit of experience with rescues.”

Thirteen gave him a look, though it was hard to read since their face was covered by their helmet, and made sound that was muffled, though Morgan guessed it was a huff.

“Despite the slight rudeness of my colleague, I’ll just start anyways. I’m sure all of you are aware, but I have a powerful quirk. It’s called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it to dust.”

Psyker cut in at that point.

“And my quirk is called Psychokinesis. It lets me manipulate the world around me using energy”

Midoriya piped up excitedly at that point, Uraraka bouncing beside him.

“Yeah! You’ve used your quirks to save people from all kinds of disasters, right?”

Thirteen and Psyker nodded, before Psyker seemed to become solemn.

“Yeah. But both our powers could very easily be used to kill. I can lift entire buildings worth of rubble, but I could also use the same force to crush another. I’m pretty sure you all have quirks that could be dangerous.”

Morgan knew that well. He had been trained to use Necrosis at maximum lethality, after all.

Psyker continued, looking over a far quieter class.

“Never forget to stay in control. If you lose focus your powers could end up being deadly.”

Thirteen picked up after their fellow teacher.

“Today you are going to be using your quirks to save people’s lives. You won’t be attacking enemies or each other, only helping those in trouble.”

Psyker smiled.

“If you ask me, that’s one of the most important parts of being a hero. Helping others is essential for any good hero.”

The two bowed.

“That’s all. Thanks for listening!”

“Yeah. Hope you paid attention.”

That speech had started Morgan’s mind going. How could he use his quirk to save people? Possibilities brewed as the rest of the class cheered. Only Denki noticed his silence. The other boy slid up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. That snapped Morgan to attention. He looked to Denki, who gave him a concerned stare.

“You alright man? You were the only one who wasn’t cheering.”

“I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Mr. Aizawa chose that time to speak up from his place near the end of the deck.

“Right. Now that that’s over- “

He did not finish as a current ran through the lights lining the middle of the USJ’s dome, shutting them off with an audible snap. Morgan tensed. That did not seem normal. He had an intuition that things were about to go wrong.

He was proven right as a sickly purple portal opened up in the central plaza, before exploding to a massive size. All three pros went on alert at that. Thirteen stood to block the students, Aizawa reached to his scarf, and Psyker’s eyes started glowing, his hair standing on end. Morgan did the same, moving in front of not only Denki, but Yaomomo and Jirou, who had drifted over to them, as well. His hand moved to the collapsed staff on his belt.

People started to pour in from the portal. As suspected. It was a gateway. Most of them looked brutish and stupid, likely low-level thugs and minor villains, but two figures stood at the center. And they certainly stood out.

One was clearly the leader, a young man in all black who cut a ghastly sight. It was not him really, it was what he had on him. Five pairs of bone white hands, each of which were tipped by a gold bottom, all gripped to his arms and shoulder, with one obscuring his face. His head was topped by messy teal hair, and he was towered over by the second figure as the portal formed into a shape, solid yellow eyes peering out. So that villain did not just open portals, he was a portal.

The second figure was a massive hulk of what Morgan would call a monster. Pitch black skin, with numerous scars littering its chest, clawed feet, a bird like head in a perpetual grin, showing off sharp dirty teeth. The worst part was its brain. It was exposed, just out there, on display. And the way it stood, motionless, like it had no will of its own. Morgan knew that that thing was the heaviest hitter.

Aizawa was on top of the draw immediately.

“Stay together, and don’t move! Thirteen, protect the students! Psyker!”

He nodded to The gray haired pro, standing at attention, his muscles tensed and ready to go into action.

“With me!”

Psyker nodded, walking over to Aizawa’s side.

Morgan could see the wave of confusion and fear washing over his classmates. Kaminari looked to Morgan, himself tense and ready to fight. He was going to make sure that his new friends were safe.

Kirishima stepped forward, a perturbed and slightly nervous look on his face as he spoke.

“Who are those guys? What’s goin’ on? Ha sthe training started? I though were supposed to be rescuing people.”

Aizawa’s response was quick and terse.

“Stay back!”

The normally tired man looked as serious and active as Morgan had ever seen him, goggles on and at the ready for if the group made a move. His following statement confirmed Morgan’s fears, and put into stark reality what would be happening today. Not a drill or lesson, but a fight for survival.

“This is real. Those are villains!” 

Notes:

So, just a fun fact. I've been really enjoying season five of MHA. It revitalized my creative juices, so I'm going on a blitz of writing recently. Have fun and I'll see you guys next time!

Chapter 8: On Hiatus: An explanation

Hey everyone. It's been a very long time. And I wanted to explain why I haven't updated for so long. For those of you who did read that is. I'm thankful for each of you really. The fact that anyone stopped to read my stuff is flattering, even if it wasn't many. But I'm putting My Place in the World on hiatus. It's not that its bad, really, I think I've done some good work with the first seven chapters. Its that, upon reflection, I had too big a vision. The story would have felt bloated quickly, and I never would have finished it, or the finished product wouldn't have lived up to my expectations. So I'll be taking a break, and downsizing my plans for it. I'll be splitting characters planned to appear here into future stories of their own, and downsizing my original plans. So for now, I'll be focusing on writing The World in My Hands. I've been having fun writing again, after a long while of feeling stressed and unmotivated. So I'll keep doing that. 
rest assured though, I will be coming back to this story. Rereading it has made me reconsider my stance. I don't think it's irredeemable. But I will be back and I will be touching it up too, as I look through it. Though more attention was paid to my new stories this one is dear. But for now, until a time when I return, I bid Ethan, Morgan, and all the other characters, not a goodbye, but a see you someday soon.
Goodbye.
P.S If anyone is interested in the mean time in picking up the story, you can message me. I'd be delighted to see what others can do with the start I have here.