The Levitating Girl

by ameoverdose

Summary:

A girl gets stuck in the My Hero Academia universe as Ochaco Uraraka. There’s only one problem: she hasn’t watched the anime in years. Now, she has to fill in the holes in her memory and save Japan from disaster with the voice of the real Ochaco in her head.

[Posted as part of the Oops, All Self-Inserts Project]

Chapter 1: My Life Got Flip-Turned Upside Down

Usually, I wake up at 6:50 AM sharp to the sound of my alarm clock. Today, I woke up at 6:30 to myself falling off the bed. That was when I noticed the first sign something was wrong- because the bed I fell from was not my bed. My fingers felt along the wall for a lightswitch to confirm that this was not my room. The small pink mirror sitting on the desk made me yell a little. Okay, maybe it was more like screaming a lot. 

 

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the actual fuck.” That is not me. That, in fact, looks absolutely nothing like me. I am now a girl around my age with hair in a short, rounded bob and innocent, wide eyes. Somehow, I was now Ochaco Uraraka.

 

I bit my lip. Hard. Nope, it definitely was not a dream. A girl’s voice spoke in my mind. “Excuse me, but…who are you? I don’t mind making new friends, even if they are a voice inside my head.”

 

“Ochaco, is that you? The real one, I mean?” I whisper. 

 

“Ah…um…you don’t need to do that. I can hear you in my head even when you don’t talk. And yes, my name is Ochaco Uraraka! I’m hoping to go to U.A. High School!”

 

This was not what I expected when I woke up this morning. Isekaied to another world,stuck there, and now sharing a body with another person? Thank god Ochaco was a girl around my age, otherwise this would get really awkward really quickly. 

 

“Oh. Right. Name. It’s Sam. Sam Chen. My full name is Samantha, but no one really calls me that. And then we have my Chinese name, which is Chen Xinyi. And the, like, ten different nicknames random people gave me. I know I don’t have to talk for you to hear me but it feels weird just thinking really hard at someone, so I’ll talk for now.”

 

The girl whose body I apparently stole responded immediately. “My name’s Ochaco Uraraka, like I said, and…huh? You know me?”

 

Ah. This was going to be hard to explain. It’s not like I was up-to-date, so I wouldn’t be too much help for things like the war arc.

 

“War arc? What war?”

 

Might as well practice this weird telepathy thing we have going on. I focused on communicating one idea at a time out of the mess that was whirling through my head at this moment. Watching an anime called “My Hero Academia.” Ochaco being a character from that anime. The villains that she and her classmates had to face. The USJ, Stain, the training camp, Kamino Ward. Some of the more relevant backstories of her soon-to-be classmates. How Midoriya got his quirk from All Might and why that only worsened his rivalry with a certain angry pomeranian named Bakugou. Todoroki’s mistreatment at the hands of current number two, soon to be number one, hero, Endeavor. 

 

Ochaco’s voice was silent as she tried to process all this information that had just been dumped on her. I didn’t envy her. It’s not every day that you wake up with another person in your head, get told your entire world is an anime, and then hear all the suffering and trauma that you’ll go through with the knowledge you’ll definitely go through more. Like I said, I wasn’t caught up, and I hadn’t been seriously spoiled, but I knew a lot of people were going to die in the newest arcs. 

 

So I let her process. I was quiet. As quiet as I could be when our thoughts were linked and I probably had ADHD. 

 

“Please stop thinking about the cat song.”

 

I was honestly more surprised that Ochaco, someone about…fifty? A hundred? Two hundred? The point was, she lived pretty far into the future. And she knew this song. Huh. That was pretty cool. A little bit of internet culture preserved across time and space.

 

“You don’t have to be quiet, ok?” Ochaco spoke again, “…I don’t think it’s working.”

 

Yeah. I didn’t think so either. 

 

“Sorry. Could you teach me a bit about your quirk?”

 

I registered a surprise that wasn’t my own inside my mind. 

 

“I thought you already knew all about us.”

 

“Well, I do. But there’s the difference between reading about something and doing it yourself. I’ve always been a tactile learner.”

 

More confusion. “Tactile learner?”

 

Oh, great. For some reason cultural drift carried Nyan Cat but not the types of learning? 

 

I felt the mental equivalent of a nod from Ochaco and sighed. Time for some quirk training with my not-so-futuristic teacher. While I’m stuck inside her body. Totally normal day. 

——————————————————————

 

“Yeah, you can do it!” Ochaco, somehow still positive, cheered inside my mind as I concentrated on my fingers and touched a medium-sized rock.

 

The rock floated up into the air and I felt Ochaco, joyful no matter how much we did this, inside my head. She had insisted on training her quirk as much as possible since she didn’t want to make a bad impression on her new classmates when she got to U.A. I did my best to match her boundless enthusiasm and had thrown myself into training with vigor. 

 

It was surprising how little I threw up. Ochaco had told me that when she first started practicing with her quirk, she was sick pretty often. To me, although the feeling of overusing Float was never great, it wasn’t too much worse than going on a long flight or a random bout of nausea. Basically, I got nauseous so much in my previous life I just got used to it. 

 

“Ok, now, release it!”

 

I followed my teacher’s command and held my fingers together in the kind of triangle that I had seen her use in canon. I focused on returning the gravity to the object like slowly flicking a switch and did my best to use my fingers to time that. 

 

“Release!”

 

The rock dropped with a loud thud. Ochaco cheered.

 

“You make a good me, Sam. You’ll be fine tomorrow.”

 

I smiled with some pride. Honestly, training had been pretty hard, coming from a world that had no concept of quirks or quirk training. However, there were two things that made me keep going. Determination and embarrassment. 

 

It would be so embarrassing for someone who had no idea how to use their powers to walk into a school filled with people who were the best of the best. Well, at least Midoriya would be in the same boat I was in. At this stage, he shouldn’t have much, if any, control over One for All. According to canon, he had just enough control to avoid breaking his entire arm again. 

 

Still, I could feel a faint emotion that definitely wasn’t mine. It wasn’t happy. It was…

 

“Right, break’s over! Let’s go again!” Ochaco chirped inside my head. 

 

I sighed and once again focused on the energy that was at once natural and foreign inside me. 

 

——————————————————————

 

“You know, Ochaco, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but I noticed you felt…a bit sad during training today. Am I doing worse than you thought?”

 

The voice in my head was silent. I could almost hear her thinking. 

 

“It’s nothing like that. C-can we please not talk about it?”

 

Well, I did say she didn’t have to talk if she didn’t want to.

 

“Ok, Ochaco. Just want to say sorry. For ending up in this situation, you know.”

 

A feeling of solidarity. 

 

“I know you didn’t mean it. Don’t worry.”

 

I was still a little worried about the mental health of my currently disembodied friend, but we did have to go to sleep soon. Tomorrow, we had to deal with U.A. Tomorrow, we had to deal with Bakugou. We needed all the sleep we could get.

 

——————————————————————

 

I walked into the room marked “Class 1-A” and felt Ochaco’s surprise mirroring my own. I had briefed her about canon, so she too felt it.

Just about everyone was there, but there was something…uncanny. 

Chapter 2: Abnormality

Summary:

The first day of school is already pretty much a Bizarro world...but somehow, in this universe, it can get worse. At least Sam has a friendly voice in her head to deal with it all.

The bell rings. At least that’s familiar. Now, where’s Aizawa…he should be here and scare the absolute crap out of everyone any second now with his sleeping bag trick. I look around, mentally briefing the real Ochaco on some of the people around us. She knew Midoriya from the entrance exam already, of course. I had taken over her body only after the acceptance into U.A., after all. It was a bit hectic seeing everyone actually here. I felt like the new kid in school all over again, only instead of being from a different school, I was from a different world.

“And that girl that looks a bit frog-like? That’s Asui, I think I mentioned her…wait, is that Shinso?” In my confusion, I break from my weird mind explanation to Uraraka. I already had the sense that something was off when I entered the classroom, but this just confirmed my instincts. I look around the classroom once again, this time more thoroughly than before.

Is that…that American girl? Horse, or whatever her name is? Ochaco is silent for right now, but I can feel her alertness through our link. I would have thought more about these new developments, but…teacher.

So, Mr. Aizawa finally showed up. I’d be more scared of him, but at this point, I’m already pretty much numb to it all. Wait, his outfit looks…different. Huh?

It even caused Ochaco to whisper to me, forgetting that no one else could hear her in her desire to be polite. “Is…our teacher a woman?”

Still, they..? looked as exhausted as I remembered. “Alright, children, welcome to Class 1-A. This year will be difficult for you all, so stop messing around, put your big person clothing on, and start being actual Hero Students.”

A boy with spiky orange-red hair raised his hand. “Hey, um, can I ask a question?”

“Eijiro Kirishima,” I supplied to Uraraka.

Aizawa did the teacherly thing and called on him. “Yes, Red Hair, what's your question?”

I was a bit surprised when Kirishima pointed at the American girl I had noticed wasn’t supposed to be there and actually knew her name. “Right, so, you’re Pony Tsunotori, right?”

I forgot her name. And I’m literally from a universe where you can look it up on Google. There’s no way Kirishima should even have heard of this girl, let alone actually know her name.

Poor Pony looked like a deer in headlights. “Yes?”

Then, Kirishima pointed at Shinso. “And you’re Hitoshi Shinso, right?” I blanched mentally, causing Uraraka to try and calm me down. These people weren’t supposed to be in Class A, and Kirishima wasn’t supposed to know this much. Wait, don’t tell me he’s also a…

My thoughts were cut off by Shinso’s response. He was understandably a bit confused as to why one of his classmates had suddenly all but called him out. “…Yes?”

Kirishima wasn’t done. Finally, he pointed at Aizawa. “And you’re suddenly and inexplicably a woman?”

Woman or not, Aizawa looked just as done with the world as in canon. “I suppose? Were you told of your teacher beforehand? Since I know I didn't send your admission letter.”

After being unceremoniously shoved into the world of My Hero Academia and learning to use the body and powers of Ochaco Uraraka, I thought my weirdness meter had maxed out already. Kirishima’s next words proved me very, very wrong.

“…Right, everyone raise your hands if you also got isekaied into My Hero Academia in the past three-odd weeks.”

Multiple people reacted at once. First, both of us noticed that Tokoyami cocked his head towards Kirishima with a thousand-yard stare. That’s at least four. Me, Kirishima, Aizawa, and Tokoyami.

At least Bakugo still seemed to be normal. “What type of fucking question is that, shitty hair-”

Midoriya started rambling at the same time. “Yeah, I did, usurped poor Izu’s body-”

Huh. Apparently, these two felt the same way, since they just stared at each other.

Bakugo looked like he was about to kill not-Midoriya. “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with that shitty Deku??”

Seeing as everyone else was in varying stages of panic, I figured I might as well say something too. If there were people like us, then they might be able to explain what had happened. Hopefully?

I raised my hand. “Yeah, I’m not the real Uraraka. I can still talk to her, though.” I did my best to seem casual about it, not wanting to freak anyone else out more. They were doing a perfectly fine job of that themselves.

Tokoyami also confirmed my suspicions. “I’m also an isekai and I can see Tokoyami as a ghost.”

Asui looked perplexed as her hand touched her chin. “Pardon? Are some of you be hiki- Chunny… bius?”

I mentally laughed. Even across universes, no one could pronounce chuunibyou.

Aizawa’s intimidating act dropped and she sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness I ain't the only one!”

Ashido seemed confused by the sudden change of a good chunk of her classmates. Or maybe it was just the fandom lingo. “Wait, I’m sorry, what?

Shoji confirmed he was an S/I too. That made five so far.

Not-Kirishima stood up. “Right, everyone- Okay, let’s do this in an actually organized fashion. Mr.- Ms.- Aizawa- I’m sorry, however I’m supposed to refer to you, can I use the chalkboard?”

I heard the dull thud of Pony’s head against her desk.

Not-Aizawa agreed. “Sure, and it’s Ms. Aizawa now.” I felt tempted to bang my head against the desk a la Pony as well. This was quickly dissolving into a literal Bizarro world.

Not-Kirishima grabbed a piece of chalk and prepared to write. “Right, headcount, if you have weird future knowledge about My Hero Academia and/or got possessed by a ghost recently raise your hand.”

I raised my hand before looking around the room to see who else did so as well. There was Aizawa, Iida, Koda, Sato, Jirou, Shoji, Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Kirishima. Plus Kaminari and Hagakure didn’t seem to be here. Well, since she was invisible, you couldn’t really tell with Hagakure.

Kirishima spoke again as he wrote. “Alright, cool, if you’re not an SI, sit tight for a moment- if you come find me at lunch tomorrow I’ll explain the whole thing so you’re not super lost. Anyways, canon knowledg-”

Kaminari burst through the door like Sonic the Hedgehog on steroids. "Sorry for being late I got lo-" He frantically scanned the room. "What the fu-"

Kirishima pointed his chalk at Kaminari accusingly. “Are you an SI?”
In response, Kaminari just sighed. “No point in hiding it. I am, I have Denki in my head and I’m going to assume you all are SIs too. This is just great.”
Wait, but there is a point in hiding it. You can get information from others without having to give it up yourself. I looked around the room again, nervous and trying to spot any possible strange behaviors from those who hadn’t raised their hands.
Uraraka, who was practically my free therapist at this point, chimed in. “Don’t worry about that for now. I may not understand much about all this still, but I’ll be there for you, ok?”
I nodded to no one like a crazy person and turned my attention back to Kirishima.
“‘Bout half and half, actually. Anyways, grab a seat, we’re playing a game of who-knows-what so we’re all on the same page when it comes to things.”
Kaminari was the first to volunteer information. “Okay, I got up to chapter 407 of the manga. I’m gonna go sit down now.”
Yaoyorozu slowly raised her hand, seeming lost.
Kirishima gestured towards her with his chalk. “Yaoyorozu. Go.”
Yaoyorozu seemed a bit intimidated. “Hello… I’m awfully sorry to interrupt but… what on earth are you all talking about when it comes to chapters? And… did you say SIs? Also, you know my name?”
Instead of Kirishima, it was Midoriya who responded to her question. “You see, this world is fiction, and we used to read it. Then, through some cosmic bullshit, we got punted here by God or something.”
…Yeah, that was definitely not Midoriya. Uraraka realized it as well. I could feel her sadness at the loss of her friend, and tried to console her. After all, there was the chance that they could still talk. The real Midoriya could still be there, just like she was with me.
Yaoyorozu, bless her, tried to understand. “I believe I now have more questions than answers.”

So did I, actually. How did One for All…you know what, nevermind.

It was Kirishima who got the class back on topic. He seemed to be a good leader so far. I’ll continue being cooperative.
“…We’ll get to the Q&A after we finish up this whole nonsense. Like I said, if you want, I’ll explain this whole thing at lunch tomorrow. Right, I’m up to… I think Chapter 405?”

Ms. Aizawa went next. “I’ve caught up to the anime and have enough spoilers to know what happened.”

Iida spoke in a much more casual tone than I was used to hearing from him. “I’m up to date on the anime too and I’ve read a bunch of fanfics and seen respect threads.”

Not-Shoji seemed almost as much of an introvert as canon Shoji. “I‘ve read every chapter of the manga.”

Oh, right. I still had to respond. “I’m an anime watcher. I stopped around the Class 1-A/1-B training fights and Endeavor versus the High End. Also I’ve read a lot of fanfiction.”

I sat back and prayed they wouldn’t ask about the fanfiction. I had done my best to explain that to Uraraka already. I did not want to do anything like that again.

Something about Tokoyami’s voice changed as he spoke. “I’m also a little TOO deep into spoilers, both anime and manga, although I’ve never seen the end of the manga. Basically, most of my knowledge stops at the Overhaul Arc, with only inklings for later other than anything to do with that Gentle guy. I basically know many deaths, injuries, and Vigilante Deku. And yes, I also read fanfiction… a lot. Not much for MHA, though…” He finished with a phrase neither Ochaco nor I understood, and I realized that what I had heard as his voice changing was actually the shift between Japanese and English.

The next to chime in was Sato. “I’ve seen up to the Kamino fight, but I’ve got some general knowledge past that, about Overhaul and the MLA fight.”

Kirishima then asked the question that determined how screwed we were. “Right. Midoriya?”

Luckily, Midoriya seemed to be ok with stepping into the role of main character. “I have all the knowledge up to the fight of Overhaul burned into my memory (though the middle is spotty) then everything from the first war arc to the end of the Vigilante Deku arc is well versed. Also, I read a lot of fanfic.”

I covered my ears on instinct. What I was about to ask was stupid, but, hey. Might as well get it out of the way. “Right. I know this is kind of our lives now, but keep the spoilers to a minimum? Thanks.”

I did not want to know about the first war arc unless we were invading Normandy.

To his credit, Kirishima didn’t laugh in my face. “I… Sure, I guess. Koda?”

Koda too was almost as introverted as his canon counterpart. “Um… I’ve watched the anime up until the whole Class 1-A versus Class 1-B training… um… thing.”

Kirishima was determined to move this along. “And Kyouka, how far are you?”

“I- I watched up to the first half of season 6 of the anime, but I know a little of what happens after.”

Before Kirishima could ask, Ojiro spat out his answer. “408. Fail for One’s backstory. Hate that wannabe baby and this stupid universe. MHA sucks.”

Everyone paused and stared at Ojiro.

 

Kirishima tried to break the silence. “…Well, now, that’s just hurtful.”

To be fair, while this was definitely not the best universe, it wasn’t the worst by a long shot. “I mean, I’d rather be brought into this than some of my other fandoms. Death Note? Yeah, no thanks.”

Not-Midoriya agreed. “Imagine being thrown into something like RWBY…”

Tokoyami lived up to his canon edginess. “I’ve been in enough fandoms with… fucked up worlds. Murder Drones? Literally the murder drones and the post-apocalypse setting. SCP? If you know, you know. Also others that happened to be saccharine… putangina nagsasalita ulit ako.”

Ojiro grumbled, not comforted at all. “All those are considerably more acceptable to me than fucking My Hero.”

I did not agree, but I didn’t respond, being too busy explaining SCP to Uraraka. “Basically it’s a world where there’s a shadow organization that keeps things with abnormal properties from normal civilization. There’s three categories that these abnormal or anomalous things are classified as…”

Kirishima cut me off from my mental conversation. “Right, moving on, anyone else have a subject change?”

Ms. Aizawa looked like a deer in headlights as she asked this question. “So, uhm… should I be teaching now or…?”

“Before we get to that- has anyone made big metaknowledge-changes in the past three or so weeks? I know Iida and I told the plot to Nedzu, All Might, and Detective Tsukauchi, so that solves some things.” It was, of course, Kirishima who asked that.

There was a silence.

Midoriya asked the question all of us wanted to. “What does ‘meta-knowledge’ mean?”

“Basically a catch-all for all the knowledge of the manga/anime we’ve got. Rolls off the tongue nicely. ‘Metaknowledge’. Also it sounds fancy, which is always a plus.”

“Oh… I don’t know if this means what I think it means but my- er- Izuku’s dad has white hair.”

I mentally winced. Kirishima reacted more openly, but he seemed to be getting accustomed to this weirdness too. “Shit. I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it?”

The disembodied voice of a girl rang out. “What does him having a white-haired father have to do with anything?”

Kirishima jumped. “Holy hell! When did you get here, Hagakure? Also, side note, are you an SI?”

Apparently Hagakure was deaf. “What do you mean? An essay?”

Kirishima wrote her name under “not an SI” on the board.

Kaminari looked at Midoriya with a mix of awe and fear. “Well, fuck. You’re the son of All for One. This might actually be an AU after all…”

“Seriously!?! DAD FOR ONE is canon here?” Ojiro complained.

“Who’s Awful Won?” Yeah, Hagakure was actually deaf.

Kirishima provided the rundown to all non-S/Is present. “Immortal quirk-stealing bogeyman, emperor of the criminal underworld, and all around bastard. Also All Might’s nemesis, so I recommend running the other direction if you run into a dude with no upper head.”

“Why does he not have a head? Did he get decapitated?” The disembodied voice-Hagakure, god I was going to have to get used to this, replied.

“All Might punched it off. It was a whole thing that, honestly, I’m probably not legally allowed to talk about.” Legally? Maybe Kirishima not being allowed to talk had something to do with Detective Tsukauchi.

Well, if we were in an AU, we were really screwed. Since our very existence changed plot, we needed to balance keeping events similar so we could predict the future and making sure less people die.

I figured I’d throw a question out, since this topic might be important to determine if we were in true canon or an alternate universe. Well, besides from our own, of course. “So Midoriya’s dad is All for One? That changes a lot. And where are the missing people? Are they also SIs?”

“Oh! I saw an article a couple weeks ago about someone running away- they seemed pretty important, something about the number two hero? Do they have anything to do with this?” So Hagakure saw something about Todoroki in the news. This might affect Sports Festival, internships and High End, if we even got that far…

“Then probably, yeah- the missing folks are Todoroki and Aoyama, and they’re the most likely to have SIs that want to get the fuck out of dodge.” What Kirishima said made sense. Todoroki has to deal with unredeemed Endeavor, and Aoyama had the whole thing with All for One.

Kirishima clapped his hands. “Right, so none of you folks changed canon significantly in the past three weeks?”

Aizawa dryly remarked, “I mean, I transitioned.”

“Gonna come out in both ways to my new moms. Also, call me Fallia now.”

I was almost certainly going to forget, so I decided to quickly check in with Uraraka. “Ochaco, can you help me with that? Two people remembering to call Tokoyami Fallia is better than one.”

I got a quick agreement before turning my attention back to the classroom. The non-SIs were…not having a great time.

“What do cannons have to do with anything?” Hagakure wondered out loud.

Momo, who had looked lost throughout the whole conversation, jumped at the chance to be useful. “I can make cannons if it’s required? It takes a while, though.”

Pony was on the verge of a mental breakdown. “Nope, still no idea about what’s going on! Absolutely none at all, hahaha.”

Kirishima decided that he had said enough. “…Right, then I’ll surrender the floor back to you, Ms. Aizawa. Take us on scholastic adventures and whatnot!” He returned to his seat.

I still wasn’t used to seeing Aizawa be a woman or look so unsure. She turned toward the class. “So, uhm- should we do the quirk apprehension test or just skip over that?”

“We should probably still do it so we know where everyone’s at in terms of skills”, Iida suggested.

Ms. Aizawa turned to our resident MC. “Also, Midoriya. Do ya still break your bones every time you use One for All?”

Midoriya looked like a wraith as green smoke billowed from his form. Bakugo was watching him closely.

“So One for All and Smokescreen?”

Midoriya replied to our teacher. “No, I just manifested One for All as small amounts of green smoke instead of lightning.”

Kaminari sighed once again. “At least you’re learning faster than the Midoriya of canon did. Speaking of, do you have him in your head? Actually, does everyone have the canon character in their head?”

“Yes, I have him as a vestige… The other vestiges were not pleased about me though.”

Bakugo was confused, and when he got confused (or felt any emotion ever) he got angry. “Vestiges? What the fuck are you even talking about, you damn imposter?!”

Tokoyami stared at Bakugo while Kaminari nodded. “That makes sense. You aren’t their chosen user.”

The redhead spoke up. “I’m a mix of canon Kirishima and a guy named James Eisner- no ghosts to speak of.”

Shoji just looked confused. It seemed to be a common expression today. “Wait, hold on, do you mean vestiges or ghosts?”

“Okay… So there’s multiple types of SI then, huh”, Kaminari agreed.

“I’ve got O.G. Iida as a ghost too.” No matter how messed up canon got, it was at least funny to hear Iida speak so casually.

“I kinda just took over Aizawa’s memories and body. I have all his memories but no ghosty.”

Kaminari hummed for a second. “So that’s three types of SIs so far. I’d assume there’s more but we can’t be sure.”

“W-wait, so there’s people with ghosts, people with just their character’s memories, and people that merged with their character?” Koda wondered.

Kirishima added on to that. “And folks that took over the character but without their memories.”

The last type seemed messy. It would be hard to adapt or learn quickly without having the benefit of the character’s knowledge. I mentally thanked Ochaco for being there for me.

Sato seemed gloomy as he spoke. “Sato’s gone. I don’t have his memories or personality, it's just me.”

Kirishima was silent for a bit before he answered. “…I’m sorry to hear that, man. You need someone to talk to and you let me know, ‘kay? Actually, that goes for everyone here- if you need a shoulder to lean on or general help either adapting to the isekai or adapting to the fact that your classmates are isekaied, lemme know and I’ll come running, got it? It’s not manly to suffer alone so I don’t want to see any of you angsting about this junk!”

Not-Sato chuckled. “Nah, don’t worry. I’ve come to terms with this.”

Not-Ojiro complained as well. “Same here. No memories of Mr. Mediocre. He’s probably enjoying my tailless body as we speak.”

Jirou stuttered out an answer. “I- I’ve got no memories either…”

Sero spoke up for the first time. “Okay, this is all very intriguing, but what about those of us who aren’t reincarnators or regressors? We did come here to learn how to be heroes still. And you guys are talking about something way past first year heroics.”

I had a sudden flashback to Omniscient Reader. Also, canon Sero would not talk like that. Despite Ochaco’s assurances, I was suddenly certain. There were people here lying about their status.

Bakugou seemed to calm down as well. “Yeah, Weird Arms over there has a point.”

Seriously? Weird arms? That was a weak insult. He must be tired.

Yaoyorozu was Yaoyorozu. “We’re still going to get the appropriate education, aren’t we?”

Ms. Aizawa calmed the originals down. “Alright, settle down. Since this self-insert bullcrap got us off track, let's go actually learn. Everyone to the training ground for the quirk assessment test.”

Shoji raised one of his arms. “…What about P.E. uniforms?”

Aizawa sighed. “Oh, right, forgot about those.” She leaned down beneath the podium and threw them at us. “Catch.”

The students, both originals and SIs, scrambled. Kirishima missed the uniform and it hit his head. Tokoyami, no, wait, Fallia (thanks, Ochaco), used Dark Shadow to grab the uniform with its beak.

I didn’t even bother trying to catch my uniform, letting it hit the ground with a soft plop and then picking it up. I wasn’t focused on that, however. I was focused on trying not to laugh hysterically from Midoriya saying “Let's start this shit.”

Ms. Aizawa speedwalked out of the classroom, leaving us on our own.

Kaminari looked at the spot Aizawa walked off from. “So… Do any of us actually know where to go, or are we going to be left in the dark?”

It was Momo who responded. “Well, if Ms. Aizawa is an… SI, as you put it? Then it’s more than likely she won’t know either?”

While we were trying to decide where to go, Tokoyami pointed something incredibly important out. “We should be talking about the implications that Aizawa-sensei is an SI. Who else is an SI besides us? 1-B? Other Pros? VILLAINS?! What if All for One is an SI, or one of his lackeys?! Oh gosh, if Overhaul is an SI…and poor Eri if she is one.”

Kirishima’s eloquence could not have summed up my thoughts better. “…Shit.”

There was the sound of Kaminari slamming his head on his desk. “If Shiggy is an evil SI we’ll be so screwed.”

“To be fair, I doubt there are many people that are that evil…” Midoriya said. As the MC, he probably didn’t even want to consider the possibility of evil S/I Shigaraki. I couldn’t blame him.

“Well, I’m thankful that certain bigots don’t exist anymore. Although we really need to find Eri.” I wondered what Fallia’s life was like beforehand if they were ok with being here.

The intercom crackled to life. “Yo! I’m already at the field. Get your asses over here quickly!”

Kirishima stood up. “Right, gang, let’s scooch and boogie! Anybody have any idea where to change?”

I was not going to listen to a bunch of strangers discuss the mechanics of changing in front of more strangers in a new body, so I busied myself chatting with Ochaco until I heard Kirishima clap his hands.

“Right, blind leading the blind. Let’s do this!”

Sato pulled out his phone. “Actually, I took a photo of the map near the entrance.”

Kirishima bowed dramatically. “Then lead the way, my friend!”

And lead the way Sato did.

 

After floundering around the campus for a while, we finally got changed and reached the field. I allowed myself to push away the darker parts of the story that I knew was coming and enjoy the feeling of being in an anime. This was real. I had powers. I could be a hero. Ochaco’s excitement mirrored my own, our happiness bouncing off of each other.

Ms. Aizawa called out to the class. “Finally! It took you all far too long. Heroes need less time to suit up into real hero suits, and you all are only wearing P.E. Uniforms. Do better next time!”

“Sorry po”, Tokoyami-slash-Fallia muttered.

“Sorry, but wearing pants is much harder when you have a giant tail.” That’s pretty fair, Ojiro. I mean, I’ve been really lucky so far. I have a convenient quirk in the form of Float, and I have a good friend and canon knowledge about both the past and the future thanks to the real Ochaco’s existence.

Kirishima waved to the teacher apologetically. “Apologies, took us a while to find the changing rooms.”

Ms. Aizawa dismissed our excuses. “A Hero must always check their surroundings beforehand. You should’ve used the map U.A provided you in your acceptance letter.”

…There was a map?

Momo glanced around. “…Did no one else check their emails?”

Kirishima sighed, suitably chastised. “That would have been a fantastic idea, yeah.”

Hagakure was on a similar page to me, at least. “We got emails?”

 

Shoji decided to explain. “We all have school e-mail accounts from U.A. The log-in was included in the info packet enclosed with the acceptance holodisk.”

Ms. Aizawa smiled ominously. “So, for the people that didn’t know that, check the letters that you get sent by U.A. fully, because I may add little surprises like glitter bombs in them when we do send out more.”

Everyone had their own reactions. Mineta shuddered. Fallia acted like they got injected with Red Bull. Pony looked like she was about to find the nearest desk again.

Then there was Kaminari. “Send a glitter bomb. I dare you. I’ll mail it back with twice as much glitter.”

Ms. Aizawa chuckled and threw a handful of glitter at Kaminari. “So you don’t believe me? Have you ever heard of Pocket Sand? Try Pocket Glitter.”

Kaminari threw sand back at Aizawa, but winced as the glitter got into his eyes. Of course, Bakugo was laughing like a madman.

I wince as well and cough as the glitter makes its way into my sinuses. “This stuff is way too fine… it’s going to trigger my allergies.”

“Would you like me to make you a mask?” Bless you, Momo, seriously.

Shinso raised his hand before I could reply either way. “So, what are we doing for the test?”
Aizawa gestured dismissively. “Oh, right. So you all remember the eight tests at the start of the year in middle school? We will be doing those with your quirks instead, along with your physical ability if your quirk doesn’t work well with the event.”

Pony made a face. “P.E.… My nemesis.”

Meanwhile, Mina and Mineta were both excited. Mineta’s motives were…a bit less pure, however. “I can’t wait to show off for all the babes in this class.”

Aizawa ran through the canon last place gets expelled spiel, which I ignored. No one will get expelled, especially since Aizawa’s an SI. When I zone back in, it’s Bakugo’s turn.

I wait with bated breath. “Ocha, you’ve got to see this.” Bakugo winds up the ball with a look of rage, then times his explosion with the ball’s release. Then…“DIE!!!!!!!!” I register Ochaco’s surprise, concern, and…a bit of amusement. I overhear excited whispering and smirk. Seems like Kirishima and Jirou were also waiting for that.

Aizawa holds up her device. 705.2 Meters.

Sato’s eyes were wide. “Damn! It's one thing to see it on screen but that was impressive.”

That was impressive, but I’m not nervous at all. I’d be more worried about the test if I had a different quirk. But, thanks to Float, I should be set. To infinity and beyond and all that, you know?

Next. Yaoyorozu walks into the circle. She unbuttons part of her top as she begins using her quirk. “This… might take me a moment, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves.” After about a minute, a cannon falls from her with a loud metallic clunk. Momo looks a bit winded, but definitely still able to work.

Mineta was being a bit perverted and drawing the ire of some of the S/Is, but luckily,
Sato was there to mediate. “Pay attention to the tests, Mineta. Last thing you want is to lose because you were chasing girls.”

Having finished her set-up, Momo turned to Aizawa. “Okay, ma’am, I’m ready to proceed.”

Ms. Aizawa nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Momo loaded the ball into the cannon and waited for it to fall to the bottom. She then spends a few more seconds aiming the cannon of her own creation. “You… may wish to cover your ears for this!”

I obey and cover…my? Ochaco’s ears. It still feels wrong calling this body mine, especially since Ochaco is literally in my head.

The cannon sparks and the ball tears off into the sky.

“1070 Meters. Tokoyami, you’re next.”

The ball toss finishes uneventfully for me. I simply touch the ball with my fingers and will it upwards. Then, we wait. And wait. And wait. At least, until Ms. Aizawa calls my score infinity and allows me to release the ball from my power.

The rest of the tests, however, are much more exhausting. I still try my best, despite getting infinity points on the ball toss. Uraraka’s body is not super athletic, but it still is better than mine. I’m not able to focus on other people’s tests much, even though I make my best attempt to. After all, I could possibly find out another hidden S/I through their performance. Now that I think about it, Hagakure’s been doing really well. Almost suspiciously well.

The fifty meter dash is exhausting. Even with Float activated, I am no sprinter, and neither is the real Ochaco. I’m winded and breathing heavily at the end of it. 6.89 seconds. I’ll take it. I’m mostly happy for it to be over, and Ochaco remarks that, for once, she’s happy she’s not in her own body.

Grip strength and toe touch go by pretty normally. After all, float doesn’t exactly apply to them, so I just do my best. Next up is sit-ups, and everyone needs to partner up. Canonically, Uraraka would have probably paired up with Midoriya, but I’m not Uraraka and they’re not Midoriya, so I’ll have to find someone else. I look around, seeing everyone form pairs, but I see Kirishima standing alone. That’s surprising, since he’s becoming almost a de-facto leader of Class 1-A.

I walk up to him. “Do you want to partner up for sit-ups? I’d be no good on my own.”

Kirishima grins, seeming unfazed by our current situation, whether that’s being isekai’ed to another universe or having to exercise. “Sure thing!”

Ugh, Ochaco makes socializing look so easy. “Do you want to go first, or should I?”

“You can go first- I mean, if you want to!”

I nod at him and get in a sit-up position. “Tell me when you’re ready so I can activate my quirk. I’ve been practicing with it, but I’m not at canon Uraraka’s level yet.” I lie there until I feel Kirishima holding down my feet. “Ready!”

I focus on my quirk and touch myself, making myself lighter. Then, I start, making sure to move my fingers over the line.

Kirishima has the idea that I can talk while doing sit-ups. Ah, to be actually in shape. “So, you’ve got original Uraraka floating around here, huh?”

I’m tired, but I don’t want to be rude, especially not after he’s been so nice. “Y-yes.”

“Must be weird to have a headmate, huh? I guess I lucked out with Eijiro and James rolling into one.”

I finally stop at 39 and catch my breath. Float really does help. I would max out at 29 in my old body. “I don’t know, I don’t mind. I’m just glad it’s Ochako and not someone like Dabi.”

Eijiro-slash-James laughs. “Fair, fair! Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.” He gets down in a sit-up position as well while I spot him.

“I don’t think you need to harden for this.”

He agrees, differing from canon Kirishima. “Yeah, definitely,” he says as he begins his set of sit-ups, “You planning on making big waves in canon?”

I take a second to think. “I hope not. Well, if the villains are S/Is too, we don’t need to worry about that. They’ll do it for us.”

I know that’s impossible. I know I’ll have to work hard to protect myself and the others, both originals and S/Is. But for now, it’s nice to pretend that my biggest problems can be learning about my quirk from Ochaco and not being able to make good desserts.

Kirishima considers it as well. “Hah, fair enough! Me, I’m going to make the best changes I can. Wouldn’t be right to do any less than that, I think.”

“Let’s hope less people die, then.” It’s scary that so much has already changed. We won’t be able to see if it’s all for better or for worse until we’ve lived through it.

He sits up and offers a fist for a fistbump, which I return.

“Cheers to that.”

After the rest of the tests, Aizawa gathers us around him. “Now that we’ve finished, let's show your scores!”

She fiddled with a remote and a screen lit up, displaying our scores.
“Ochaco Uraraka
Momo Yaoyorozu
Izuku Midoriya
Katsuki Bakugo
Tenya Iida
Mezo Shoji
Ejiro Kirishima
Fumikage Tokoyami
Mina Ashido
Mashirao Ojiro
Tsuyu Asui
Rikido Sato
Pony Tsunotori
Koji Koda
Hanta Sero
Tooru Hagakure
Denki Kaminari
Kyoka Jiro
Hitoshi Shinso
Minoru Mineta”

The class explodes in another wave of reactions comparable to when we found out half of us were from different universes. Fallia screams and high-fives Dark Shadow. “WOOHOO!”

As for me, I’m pleased, but a little confused. I know Ochaco didn’t place first in canon, so did Ms. Aizawa decide to count my points as literally infinity? Still, I tap into the link between Uraraka and I and congratulate her. After all, it’s her body, and her quirk. I’m really more of a tool in something like this. Besides, I couldn’t have learned to use my quirk without her help.

Seeing Fallia jump around in Tokoyami’s body is funny, but I still cover my ears to block them and Mineta’s wailing out. I don’t think Mineta is an S/I, unless he’s just a really good actor. Still, I feel like if Mineta was from another universe, he’d be one of the first to say that he’s someone different. You know, to avoid all of the hate.

Aizawa smirks. “And I lied! Nobody is getting expelled! Although I may recommend Mineta to our counselor just so that he may find a reason to become a hero that’s about more than just getting a girl.”

Yeah, yeah, no one’s getting expelled, woohoo or whatever. For once, Ochaco doesn’t probe into the source of my bad mood. It’s pretty self-explanatory, after all. I’m slightly nauseous, and I ache all over. I’m tired.

And definitely not in the mood for Mineta. “…But getting chicks is why I want to be a hero!”

Kirishima grinned. Who knew he could make a grin look so menacing? “Which means you get to go on a soul search! Also, harass anyone in this class and I will physically drag you to Nedzu.”

Finally, we’re released. “That’s all for today, you’re dismissed. Remember to check your e-mail for orientation information.”

I head back home, content to simply relax. I decide to take a shower before doing anything else. It’s still a bit awkward to clean someone else’s body, but Uraraka and I can make do. She strikes up a conversation with me about everything that’s happened today.

“So, we aren’t the only ones. That’s…”

I notice her hesitancy and try to help her find the right words. “Comforting? Weird?”

“Scary. That’s scary.”

I pause while washing my/her hair. It’s not like her to be so pessimistic. Then again, nothing about this whole situation is normal by any stretch of the word. “Yeah, it is scary, huh? I mean, I’m convinced there are people in our class who are lying about not being from another universe, and I don’t know what they have planned.”

Uraraka, who had wanted me to stop worrying about it, hesitantly nodded. “D-do you have anyone in mind to be suspicious of?”

I think back to everyone else today. More than half the class has openly announced their self-insert status, even if it was clearly painful for some. Sato, for example. “Well, Sero was a bit suspicious. He’s supposed to be more…happy-go-lucky? And he said something about how reincarnators and regressors were intriguing. I know you never met him before today, but from what I described about him to you when I summarized plot to you, do you think I’m right?”

Ochaco could tell that I didn’t like having to be so suspicious about everyone. “I don’t know, but I trust your instincts.”

I nodded to no one like a crazy person (thank goodness I was in the shower). “Do you need anything about what the others were talking about explained?”

“Mhm. What’s an AU?”

Oh, right. The thing about Midoriya’s dad being All for One. “AU is alternate-universe. In the “canonical” world where everything is fictional that’s the reason why me and the other self-inserts have metaknowledge slash knowledge about the future, Midoriya’s dad is someone different. He’s not really mentioned, but he’s not All for One. And, basically, everyone’s freaking out about it because that’s a big change from what we know. Also, remember what James said about All for One? He’s like, an immortal supervillain.”

Ochaco processed the information for a second. “But…uhm…Midoriya has learned his abilities faster, right? So even if what happens changes, shouldn’t we be ok?”

 

It’s wholesome how her optimism towards Izuku carries over to his self-insert. Even though I can tell this whole concept scares her, she’s still able to look on the bright side without being unrealistic. This is why she’s one of my favorite anime characters.

No…character or not in my former universe, Ochaco is still a real person here. She’s been here for me so far, after all, and she has her own thoughts and feelings. I should know, I can feel some of them. I resolved from now on to do my best to look beyond my idea of her as a character and to treat her as her own person.

I do my best to hide those thoughts from her. I don’t want to cheapen my resolution. “Anyway, something important that I have to change from canon is Eri.”

Ochaco perks up. “Eri? That’s…the girl with the Overhaul villain.”

“I don’t care if she’s an S/I or not, we need to find her and keep her away from Overhaul’s abuse.” I spit venomously. Sure, Overhaul looks cool, but he’s a massive hypocrite and also, obviously, a child abuser. Oh, let’s make a world without quirks since quirks are sooo bad! What’s that? I’m still using my quirk? Well, too bad! There’s also that whole thing with Mirio. Mirio actually had to work hard to master his quirk, while Overhaul can just touch something and warp it. He had zero right to do anything about Mirio’s right to have a quirk.

I could feel Ochaco’s determination through our link. She clearly felt the same. “We have to help her. It’s our job. I’m sure the others will also be willing. I know Fallia brought it up, and I’m sure Kirishima will be more than ok with it.”

I nodded again. Wait, no-nevermind. “What do you think about everyone else so far? You’re better at social interaction, and you have more time to look at the others since I had to deal with class.”

Her presence was silent for a while, leaving me alone with the sound of running water as I cleaned us. “Kirishima, of course! And…Iida and Jirou too.”

Ok. That all made sense. Kirishima had mentioned Iida helping him with explaining the plot to important figures in the world. I still wasn’t sure about Jirou, but Ochaco had trusted my instincts. I would trust hers.

After showering, I open up Ochaco’s phone and pull up the acceptance hologram. “Oh, so there was a login.”

I set up our account, letting Uraraka choose our permanent username (I mean, it is her phone) before checking our email. We were greeted with the amazing talking mouse that’s more obsessed with tea than even Momo, Principal Nedzu.

“Hi there! It’s me, the one who could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but most importantly, you may call me the principal! My name is Nedzu, and it’s wonderful to see so many smiling faces today as you return from your summer vacation to the academic world! As you transition back into your school life, it’s important to take care of yourselves. Training to become heroes is stressful work and I wish for all of you to be safe and healthy as you grow! Now, some of you may have heard rumors, but we have a new teacher here at U.A. High School! And, he is-

He’s a mouse. Weird inside joke. He’s clearly not a dog or a bear… Screw it. I decide to indulge in a little bit of stupidity and cheer along with the students in the recording. “ALL MIGHT!!”

The man, the myth, the legend lands. “I AM HERE! To introduce myself!”

Nedzu chortles. “Yes, that is correct, our very own Number One All Might will serve as a Heroics teacher starting this year! Since he has been a pro hero for many years, his experience and expertise will prove invaluable to teaching all of you how to become better heroes!”

I zone out. So even superhero schools still have boring orientation speeches, huh.

“And on that note, once again, I welcome all of you students to what I hope is a productive and fruitful year here at U.A. High! Please, do not get so wrapped up in worries and stress that you forget how to be students. Even as you learn to support our society, you are all still teenagers; let us pro heroes help you learn in a comforting environment. Now, that is all for today! You all are dismissed, starting with the third years!”

Students? Yeah, I guess. Even though we were sent from different universes as some sort of cosmic joke, we are still teenagers. As much as I hate these sorts of feel-good speeches, the principal did have a point.

Still…in order to grow properly, we have to survive. How could I forget what was coming next? The USJ. Not a very dangerous event in canon, of course, but if Shigaraki or any other major villains were also self-inserts…this could get messy. Real messy.

But, you know what? I had the others, even if I couldn’t fully trust them. I had Ochaco. And I had myself, for whatever that counted for. I’d get through this. I had to.

Chapter 3: Ordinary Indifference

School…wasn’t bad. I know, blasphemy against the coalition of disgruntled teenagers or whatever. Still, knowing Japanese naturally and learning how to use a nifty thing called the Internet meant that I at least had no trouble with history. English was easy too, obviously. Being American comes with its perks. The worst was grammar. I could speak Japanese, but without it coming from speaking it my whole life and instead having it come from some weird self-insert handwave, I could not explain the most basic things about the language.

So, the day passed like a pleasant whirlwind, just as school was when I was still myself. Life couldn’t leave me alone, however. I had to deal with even more physical activity. That I forgot about, because I haven’t read the manga or watched the anime in literal years. Before hopefully not dying a painful death by disintegration at the USJ. Yay. Ochako, bless her, voice in my head that she currently is, tries to cheer me up.
“It’ll be a good chance for you to practice!”
While that is true, I’m more scared someone will accidentally kill me. I don’t think most of the people that get unceremoniously tossed into another universe have perfect control over their quirks yet.

I mean, I definitely don’t. Imagine if I lost control and just dropped someone while I was levitating them. God, imagine if I had to fight someone like Kaminari and he just accidentally killed me. I do not want to deal with death by electrocution or explosion or anything like that.
Still, though, the team assignments weren’t terrible. I was paired up with Jirou, while we were up against Iida and Ojirou. It would be a hard fight, since I’m not exactly used to combat, and Jirou was one of those who had incarnated without memories. She’d have to rely mostly on instinct.

I stood with Jirou outside the building as we waited for All Might to start the match. I had made some minor adjustments to my costume, making it a bit more comfortable to move around in and less skin-tight. I looked up at the training building as we waited, thinking of possible ways to enter.

A loud air horn sounded.

“All right! Let’s begin! Team J and Team H, your time starts now!”

That must have been All Might. I turned to Jirou, who seemed nervous, but looked like she had some sort of plan.

“So- I thought about this earlier… but maybe we could use your quirk to enter from the top? Like float up there or something!”

It was a good idea, but I wasn’t as confident in my abilities compared to canon Ochako. “Ok! My weight limit is a lot lower, though. I mean, I can get you up.”

The other girl nodded, thinking about it. “Then let’s do that, it’ll probably catch them by surprise, right?”

It hopefully would. If I was a defender, I would probably put the heaviest defenses around the front entrance. Maybe we could avoid that.

“Mhm, that would be a good idea. I know Iida can decimate us in close combat.”
Jirou agreed, having a more long-ranged quirk compared to mine.

“Exactly, if we get him off guard he won’t get much of a chance.”

Ok, time to put the plan into action.

“Right.” I nod, touching Jirou’s hand and activating my quirk.

I watch Jirou as she starts to float, wanting to make sure she’s safe.

“Oh wow- This feels so weird…”, she says.

Well, yeah. It still feels weird to me, and I’ve been practicing with it every chance I get. I keep an eye on the other girl as she enters the building through the top floor, giving her some extra time so I don’t accidentally drop her.

I take a moment to catch my breath, not nauseous, but rather more tired than anything. How did Uraraka do it all this time? Let’s see, I sent Jirou to a higher floor, so I’ll try and enter on a lower floor that’s not ground level.
The intercom crackles as I release myself from the effects of my quirk. It’s Jirou, obviously.

“I think I can hear one of them around the third floor or so…? Which one are you at?”

She went downstairs really quickly. That must mean the bomb wasn’t on a higher floor.

“Second. Do you want to meet up? We can corner them if you’re already on the third floor.”

I began making my way through the building, trying to find a staircase up.

“Hey Uraraka, any idea where the villains put the bomb?”

I spin around. That voice didn’t come through the intercom! “Jesus Christ, you’re not a girl!”

It was Iida. He had a maniacal grin on his face.

“And I didn't think you heroes would be so slow, you can't even comprehend the house of horrors we made for you, a Kevin McAlister special.”

Oh, right. Self-insert.

“Is that like Home Alone? I’m going to assume it’s like Home Alone.”

He visibly deflated. “Yeah, it's like Home Alone but come on, I had the opportunity. Also, I lost my place, thanks. Also you didn't get hurt from any traps, did you?”

The intercom crackled again. “D-Did one of them show up to attack you?”

I really had no idea how to respond to that.
“It’s Iida. We’re talking about Home Alone!”
“...What does that mean!?”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” Iida threw an uppercut at me while I was distracted talking to Jirou. “Almost forgot we were fighting, got distracted, don't usually like to hurt people. Part of the reason I went into medicine was to do the opposite of that.”
Being distracted and also not some kind of action hero or street thug, I got hit. Kind of hard, too. Iida clearly wasn’t one of those people who pulled his punches just because their opponent was a girl.

“Ah!You’re a college student? That means you’re older than me.”

Iida decided to respond.

“Yeah, looks like anybody can get transported here at any time.” Then, he kicked at my legs, which hurt a lot. Don’t judge me, I’m no soccer player, I don’t get kicked in the shins much.

I fell. This is why I didn’t want to get into combat with Iida, he’s a menace to society. I decided to act more injured than I was, and prepared to make myself float if he got any closer.

Even Iida was surprised at how one-sided the fight was going.

“Huh, that actually got you to the floor, was not expecting that. Well, hero, you seem to be on the back foot and if you're alone, that means the other fool probably went the high road.”

He relayed this information to Ojiro while still keeping an eye on me.

“Ojiro, Jirou probably went the high road, so keep an eye out for her.”

I could tell when he started speaking to me again.

“So now I have you alone. you know it's funny we have All these mixups and this match still happened on this day, you could say it's a canon event right?”

Was that a Spiderman reference? I have no idea. I’ve never watched Spiderman, only seen edgy memes by depressed teenage boys about 9/11 being canon. I stayed down, knowing Iida would swiftly put me back down if I got up while he was on guard.

“Well, I’m not exactly experienced with fighting.”

To him, I probably seemed like some sort of ditz or a lazy girl who gave up too easily, but if I was going to lose, I was going to have some fun with it.

Iida kept talking. “That's fair, if you can get to a person who can teach you to fight you'll probably pick it up as fast canon Uraraka did. I do know you don't need to work the ground game that much to win, one touch and you got me dead to rights, but that's why I have this knife and rope you see. Now, you're feeling lucky, punk?”

Wait, he had a knife now?

“I’m sorry, you have a what?”

Iida replied again. Man, this guy really likes talking.

“Utility knife, always good to have never know when you will need to cut something like rope, wood, ect. Always good to have. Never thought I would need it in this situation, but I'm sure Ojiro can handle himself fine in a one v. one, Nezu sent him to fight Cthulhu after all in canon. All I have to do is keep you down.”

Iida tied one end of the rope to the handle of the knife and threw it across me, obviously trying to keep me down like he said. I had no idea what he was talking about with Cthulhu. Wasn’t that one of the monsters from Lovecraft? Still, I wasn’t just going to let him end the game that quickly. I manage to grab onto the rope and pull, satisfied at his surprised expression.

“Oh shit, forgot you could take my leverage away.” Iida stumbles forward, starting to fall, but rolls to keep from losing control.

This was one of the best chances I had to incapacitate him. It was going to be hard, I had no doubt about that. I ran forward, faking trying to tag him with my right hand until the last moment, when I switched to my left.

“Capoeira spin kicks for defense!”

Ugh, he really was taking this isekaied into an anime thing seriously. Even shouting his attack names? I couldn’t take him, though. He was much more experienced.

“I think I’ve seen something like that in another anime…”

He replied again as he spun back into stance.

“Eddie Gordo from Tekken and Goro Majima from Yakuza use it. Thought it would hurt like hell to kick someone like that with Recipro Burst on.”

I nod, trying to keep him distracted and at the same time truly agreeing.

“Yeah, that’ll be good for the USJ.”

I try to move upstairs. I know Iida’s faster, but there might be more resources like debris or really anything since Jirou did say she was on the third floor. At the rate this fight’s going, it’s going to be an easy loss for me.

“Oh no you don't, RECIPRO BURST RIDER KICK!!!!”

Iida activated his thrusters to jump and then, like a true martial artist, kicked at me from midair. I barely had time to process what was happening before I felt glass shattering around me. Well, looks like I got kicked out the window. Fun.

Iida has completely panicked. “OH SHIT DID NOT MEAN TO DO THAT!”

Well, he’s caught me. Now we’re both falling from the window. Now instead of just floating myself, I have to float him too. Luckily, I manage to slow our fall enough so neither of us get more injured than we have to.

“Oh thank God I thought I might have broken your spine or gave you a concussion. I did not want to Goldberg you.”

I take deep breaths. Ugh, it’s times like these that I wished I had canon Uraraka’s weight limit, nausea be damned.

“Did not get that reference but I am glad neither of us are dead.”

Iida seemed to be calming down.

“Pro wrestler, he kicked an opponent in the head, gave him a severe concussion and made him retire. Thanks though for saving me from saving you. So are we eliminated? Also, what about time, or Jirou and Ojiro.”

I shrug.

“There isn’t much about the actual rules in canon, and I don’t think All Might mentioned anything. I haven’t heard from Jirou over the intercom for a while, though.”

“Huh neat guess we're still going” Iida spun into a roundhouse kick, reaching for his capture tape at the same time.

I jump back, dodging the attack mostly by luck.

“Ah! Shouldn’t we at least get back to the building?”

“Why, we’re outside now, and my job is to keep you away from the bomb or take you down.” He went for a right hook to the side of my head. A blinding pain flared behind my eyes. Wasn’t he trying to avoid me getting seriously hurt?

“Not a great way to avoid me getting concussed…”

Iida starts. It seems like he genuinely forgot.

“Oh shit ya, well I can do this.” He went for another leg sweep, which I couldn’t dodge. In my defense, there was a stabbing pain in my head which made it hard to concentrate. Who am I kidding, I couldn’t dodge that during the best of times.
Iida is on me with capture tape before I can react. I sigh, resigned to my fate. Now, I just hope I don’t really have a concussion.

There’s been no news from Jirou at all, and Iida has disappeared back into the building to try and help Ojiro. I was just getting a bit impatient when the bell rang and All Might’s voice was heard.

“The time has run out! Young Ojiro, please release your opponent!”

Looks like Jirou lost as well. Oh well, even if she could get past Ojiro, getting past Iida would be even worse. That man might be a bit obsessed with references, but he could fight.

Some water and an ice pack later, my head was feeling better. We gathered in the spectator room to hear our report from All Might.

“Well done, heroes and villains! Fantastic work! Now, can anyone guess who our MVP was this match?”

It was Yaoyoruzu who raised her hand. She had been the one for analysis in canon as well.

“Was it Ojiro?”

Well, I hadn’t seen Ojiro fight, but seeing that Iida and I fell out of a window and Jirou seemed to have gotten subdued pretty quickly, it made sense. I mean, I don’t think a hero would have a great time explaining that one. “Sorry, I got beat up a lot and then thrown out the window!” Well, kicked out the window, technically. Hope Iida remembers not to recipro close to glass indoors again.

All Might continued, “Exactly! And can you explain why?”

“Unlike his teammate, Ojiro managed to quickly and effectively secure the opponent that he was facing. Additionally, he did not get distracted while facing his opponent, successfully knocking her to the ground and eliminating her as a threat while playing his role as a villain well.”
Momo thought I lasted a long time? That was good news. I obviously have a lot to work on, though, and All Might thought so as well.

“Correct! Now, a couple of points of improvement. First, Young Ojiro! I am aware of your… unique circumstances putting a damper on your abilities; to remedy this, I recommend spending some time acclimating to your new limb when you can, doing simple balance exercises and light activities.”

Ojiro sighed, looking gloomy as always even though he had won and been nominated VIP. “Yes. I could’ve ended this match a lot earlier if I hadn’t missed that first hit. It’s just hard to get used to.”

“Additionally, I recommend easing up on the intensity in future exercises- we’re here to learn how to be heroes, not villains, after all! Next, Young Iida!”

Easing up on the intensity? What the hell had happened with Jirou? Iida had given me a lot of mercy, even if he had hit a bit harder than he meant to at times. Now, it was his turn to receive feedback.

“Yes sir?”

“While your plan to set up traps was effective and you did a fantastic job delaying one of the heroes, in the future, endeavor to banter with your foes after taking them down. While you did successfully delay your opponent, in the end, sneak attacks are much more effective when you don’t alert your opponent to your presence.”

Aha, that made sense. I mean, he could have jumped me, but then he started monologuing about Home Alone. It did help him, though, because I could not get a read on him at all. Still, he could have definitely ended this fight faster.

“Next, Young Uraraka! Young Jirou!”

That’s me! I have a general idea of what I need to fix from the real Ochako already, but let’s see if All Might agrees.
“Yes!”

“Good work, both of you!” The symbol of peace gave us a thumbs up. “I recommend general combat training for both of you, and Young Uraraka, work on not getting distracted by enemy banter, but otherwise, great job!”

Jirou responded for me. “…Y-yes?”

It was another quiet day in the apartment for me. I busied myself cleaning Ochako’s room as I chatted with her about the fight today, and possible ways to work on improving combat.

“Having a ranged option would definitely be good for me to fall back on. If someone was hellbent on keeping their distance from me there would not be much I could do.”

I could somehow see Ochako mentally nod.
“Working on hand-to-hand with someone else would be really good too! You said in… uhm… canon, I learned from someone called Gunhead?”

“Ah, yeah. Pro hero that you got an internship with, I think.”

Ochako pauses. I could almost see her thinking.

“I think it would be good to get someone like him! And also, we could see…Hatsume, right? We could see her for something we could use ranged!”

With something to do before the USJ, I could finally relax. At least, relax somewhat. I put on a lo-fi playlist (I didn’t know that still existed) and started on the history reading, Uraraka chiming in with a word or phrase every so often. Yeah, I could get used to this.

Chapter 4: Little Idiosyncracies

Well, that battle trial sure went well. It’s not like I couldn’t touch Iida at all and got flung out a window or anything. Going to school was always an experience, and getting beat up by a man who casually drops Home Alone references was something as well. Iida knew too much combat for me, who did her daily exercise by walking from the classroom back to my room. Jeez, even if I had run into Ojiro instead, I probably would still have had trouble. Actually, maybe not. Ojiro’s a bit more close-ranged, and I doubt he’s super used to using his tail in a fight. I didn’t see the fight between Jirou and him, but that was what All Might had said, right? Definitely something like that.

Still, after seeing how outmatched Jirou and I were during the battle trial and hearing All Might’s advice, I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. I had to get some upgrades, and resolved to meet with Hatsume and Power Loader at a good opportunity. I needed some good support gear, and, while we were at it, I could also make my uniform a bit less canon. At least get rid of the helmet and replace it with goggles or something, no wonder Uraraka got sick so much in canon. Imagine not getting much oxygen to begin with and having to vomit inside of a sealed space. Super gross, ick. Ah well, I’ll get on it tomorrow. 

The next day, I entered class as usual, with Mrs. Aizawa crawling into the room in her trademark yellow sleeping bag before standing up.

“Hello class! Welcome to another day of UA! I guess..” Wow, she was getting the hang of being Aizawa really fast. Then again, it probably wasn’t too hard to at least cover that aspect. I mean, who doesn’t want to crawl into a hole and sleep forever when they have to come into work? 

Fallia-the Tokoyami isekai-greeted Mrs. Aizawa as usual. Something about their eyes looked super creepy. I mean, their eyes looked…so dilated. Obviously, Tokoyami was a humanoid bird, so this just had the effect of making Tokoyami look like he was on acid. 

Kaminari, meanwhile, was trying to merge with his desk, before giving up and finally looking around the classroom. 

“It’s time for class already?”

“Sadly, yes! Welcome to High School! Where sleep is for the weak! Anyways, onto the schedule. We will be doing something fun!” Jeez, man or woman, Aizawa still carried their trademark snark, huh?

A deadpan voice rang out. “Somehow I doubt it.” Of course, it was the resident buzzkill, Ojiro. Looks like he still wasn’t over being brought here. Or having a tail, for that matter. 

Oh right, it was time for- “Class rep selection, yeah?”

Huh, Kirishima actually finished my thought. That was weird. I mean, is that really something to think is fun, though? A couple of my classmates voiced similar thoughts. I don’t know what Mrs. Aizawa was expecting, really. As a teenager, I can confirm that all teenagers do is complain.

“Oh…I abstain from being voted for at all!” 

That was Fallia. Looks like they didn’t want to deal with the responsibility. Or maybe just the popularity contest that was probably about to happen.

“I’m sitting out of being elected as well. I’m not brave enough for politics.” 

Well, that was definitely different. Iida not wanting to be class representative was like a fish not wanting to swim. Still, I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t the Iida I had watched before. A couple of my classmates also seemed confused, as a wave of muttering passed through the room. 

Deciding that she had better intervene before we completely derailed the conversation and started talking about enchilada recipes or something even worse, Aizawa started talking again.

“Of course it’s fun! Anyway, there are a couple rules! No voting for me as I have looked through Aizawa’s memories and a class tried that. Second, don’t kill each other.”

Kirishima sounded a bit concerned. “Is that it?”

I mean, yeah. Killing was off the table, sure, but was maiming? Bribery? Did we want to do this more like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Flies?

Aizawa sounded a bit exasperated. “I mean, yeah? What do you want me to do, give you all seven thousand rules on how to behave during class when you all should know how to behave? I mean, at least don't murder each other and don't threaten each other without it being in good fun.”

 

“I mean, doesn’t the teacher get more involved normally?” Sero wondered out loud.

 

A good chunk of the class seemed to agree. Shinsou slammed his head onto the desk. Jirou sighed loudly. I just stared at Aizawa, probably looking like trash. I was tired as-no, I shouldn’t swear unless I had to. I mean, I’m not used to an actual person being in my thoughts still, but I shouldn’t be rude if I don’t have to. Hagakure stared at Mrs. Aizawa as well. 

 

“Yeah, give us the rules, please.”

 

Fallia spoke out, giving us the first nomination of the class. “I nominate Kirishima!”

 

There weren’t exactly any objections. I mean, Kirishima had been a pretty good leader so far, and had dealt with the whole isekai-slash-self-insert thing well. Maybe he didn’t think so, because he looked a bit more surprised than I was expecting. 

 

“I mean, sure, I guess.”

 

Aizawa booed. “Y’all want rules? Boring! Class is fun when anything can happen! Just no crimes, at least.”

 

“So… Could we all make, like, a speech on who should be the class president or something or for ourselves if we wanted to?” Jeez, was Kaminari a stage magician in his past life or something? He just pulled a hat out of thin air. It wasn’t exactly like I was the only one surprised, since a couple people started talking at once afterwards.

 

Then, of course, resident Lord Explosion Murder spoke. “Do I really need to make a fucking speech when we all know I’m the best here?”

 

A disembodied voice-Hagakure, I was getting used to her now-threw an olive branch to Bakugo. 

“Why are we making speeches in the first place?”

 

A couple people responded with their own reasons.
“It’s fun! And it doesn’t involve violence!” That was Kaminari, who had put on the hat he pulled from…somewhere.

 

“Helps concentrate the votes around the folks who want the responsibility, too, so we don’t get a repeat of canon Midoriya passing up the role.” Seriously, why was Kirishima surprised at being nominated again?  

 

Not-canon Midoriya nodded, “I absolutely don’t want it this time either.”

 

I think Bakugo said something, but I just tuned him out. I mean, it’s not like I hated him here or when reading about him, it’s just…he’s kind of tiring to be around in person. 

“Okay! Because some of y’all want speeches, come up and say em! Don’t think about them! A hero must be able to act on the spot at all times!”

 

That was a bit cheesier than what canon Aizawa would have went with, but it did the job. Kaminari stood up and prepared himself.

 

“Perfect! I have one already.”

 

Shoji stared at him. “How do you already have a speech prepared?”

“Magic… Nah, I just thought of it now, to be honest, so… do I just walk in front of the class? I’ve never really done anything like this before.”

 

“Can I go next?” Asui spoke in her usual blunt manner, but it was kind of weird. I don’t think she usually cuts people off like that in canon. 

 

Once again, it was Kirishima who organized us. …seriously. Why was he surprised at being nominated for class representative again? It was literally what he was doing already.

 

“Okay, wait, raise your hand if you want to give a speech, please!”

 

A good amount of people raised their hands, and Kirishima came up with an order for everyone to go in. 

 

“Right, Kaminari, you start, then Bakugo, Asui, Yaoyorozu, and I’ll bring up the caboose?

 

After everyone understood what was going on, Kaminari walked up to the front of the class and turned around, coughing to get people’s attention.

 

"I won't lie to you, I don't want to be class president. I just want to say something serious because of the situation most of us are in, but this also applies to those who aren't reincarnates." 

 

He took a deep breath before continuing with a determined look in his eyes. 

 

“We're hero students, like it or not. We can't just mess around. I want to, I want to enjoy life, and  I know most of you do too. And with most of our problems seemingly already gone, we shouldn't have much to worry about. But we don't know about the future. If we all intend to go down this path then we should train for it and get better at using our quirks. We need to be better, stronger, faster. We can't just slack off. No, we have to put 200% effort into this to try and be the best heroes we can be." 

 

Kaminari bowed and returned to his seat, receiving mixed reactions. I didn’t catch too much, but I definitely saw Ojiro roll his eyes, while Fallia let out a tired “yay.”

 

I clapped. I mean, I might as well try to make the people who were going next more comfortable, right? Plus, the real Ochako was mentally clapping, so I figured, why not? It was literally her body. 

 

“Honestly? Well said.”

 

Shoji seemed impressed as well. 

 

“Holy crap, that speech was actually good. SI or not, I would've never thought to hear something like that out of Kaminari’s mouth.”

 

Kirishima grinned, agreeing with Kaminari’s feelings.

 

“You got that right, Kaminari. We’ve got a head start, but that just means we can go even farther. Plus Ultra.”

 

Kaminari returned the grin. “Plus Ultra indeed.”

 

Fallia yawned, either bored or tired. “Same…Snap outta it, Fallia! Please don’t sleep, me!”

Kirishima then lit a literal bomb. 

 

“Right. Bakugo?”

 

Said bomb stood up at his desk, not even bothering to walk to the front of the classroom. “At this point, you all know I’m the best here. Just fucking vote me already.”

 

Well, I did say that Kirishima lit a literal bomb. The class practically erupted. Some people, like Pony and Kaminari, just muttered discontentedly to themselves. Other people weren’t as nice. Being self-inserts, they weren’t scared of Bakugo at all. 

 

“Wow. Really living up to canon Bakugo, huh. Besides the expletives, that is.” For once, I agreed with Ojiro. Seriously, I didn’t think canon Bakugo was this much of a moron. 

 

“I feel like having a speech like that doesn't really communicate how great you supposedly are.” Yeah, Hagakure at least was definitely not voting for him. 

 

Surprise surprise, I spoke up as well. “Yeah, I really don’t know how you expect that would make us want to vote for you.” 

 

Shoji just seemed tired. “Expected as much from Bakugo.”

 

Even Kirishima couldn’t find anything nice to say about the speech. “Yeah, not sure how, exactly, that speech was supposed to make the class as a whole want to vote for you, but alright? Asui, you’re up.”

 

“I hope you all feel good hearted enough to vote for my friend, Jirou”, she bowed her head, “I believe she would be good for class president.”

 

A good amount of the class seemed surprised by that, but no one more so than Jirou herself. “W-What!?”

 

“Is nominating someone else allowed?”, Hagakure wondered out loud.

 

Kirishima didn’t seem to care much either way. “I mean, I don’t see why not!”

 

But still, didn’t that contradict his earlier words? What if someone who didn’t want to be class representative got elected? That would basically be a repeat of canon Midoriya, right? Case in point, Jirou was currently futilely arguing with Asui. 

 

Kaminari hummed. “Anyone would be better than Bakugo, I’m fine with whoever.”

 

Shoji nodded. “Agreed.”

 

Bakugo glared at the other blonde boy menacingly, not that Kaminari cared in the slightest. He simply turned to Bakugo with a grin on his face as he slowly flipped him off. Surprisingly, Bakugo didn’t start yelling immediately, just flipped him off back and turned away.

 

“Kaminari, Bakugo, you guys should probably still be nice to your classmates, even if they are acting like jerks. Now, Yaoyorozu, you’re up! Speechify us!” 

 

I don’t know what Kirishima was expecting. Coming from Bakugo, that reaction was practically monk-like.

 

Yaoyorozu walked up to the front as well. 

 

“For those of you who reincarnated: I entrust you’ve already seen who I am and what I’m capable of. But for those of you who don’t know me… I’m more than the person you saw in that battle trial yesterday. I’m always striving for perfection, I’m someone who only wants the best for those around her and those we hope to protect. Should you choose me to represent you, I can’t promise you that I’ll be perfect right away, it’s entirely possible I’ll make mistakes… But I’ll ensure that everyone in this room has a platform to speak, a place to feel safe and a shoulder to lean on. Thank you. “

 

As Momo sat back down, she received a round of claps and cheers. I knew it was impressive, but even Ojiro, resident doom-and-gloom pessimist, didn’t immediately say something disparaging. 

 

“Eh. Not the worst I guess?”

 

I mean, coming from Ojiro of all people, that was like a standing ovation. Momo really was something else. 

 

“Nice speech! Guess it’s my turn, then.”

 

I was particularly curious about this one. I knew what Momo was like in canon, obviously, so if she ran I wanted to vote for her. Still, Kirishima could definitely be a dark horse. 

 

“Alright, to be honest, I’m not super good at fancy speeches. And I’m not going to go around promising lofty goals that I can’t achieve. What I am good at, though, is people. If I do become class rep, I promise that I’ll make sure that none of you guys feel left behind. I promise that if you come to me with a concern, I’ll get it taken care of, come hell or high water. I’m not going to go out and promise that we’ll all be the top 20 heroes once we graduate, because the real world doesn’t work like that. But I can promise you that I’ll do my fighting best to give us a shot at taking those spots, plus ultra style. Thanks.”

Shoji clapped. “You for sure got my vote now, Kirishima.”

 

Fallia cheered tiredly before losing their battle with insomnia and falling asleep completely. That looked comfortable…

 

And once again, Kirishima had impressed the one who was as harsh a critic as Gordon Ramsey. 

“A bit much but probably the best one yet.”

 

Koda raised his hand. “So how are we counting up the votes?” 

 

I was always a bit surprised when Koda spoke. Even more than Hagakure, even. At least Hagakure actually spoke in canon. 

 

Kaminari took his hat off with a flourish. “I prepared for this moment.”

 

Kirishima did one final check to make sure everyone had notebook paper, then decided to start the vote. 

 

“Then write the name of your vote for class representative, and second most votes gets to be the vice rep! Once you finish, take it on up and pass it to Kaminari, and when we’re all done we’ll count it up!”

 

I take a minute to think. There’s no rush, plus maybe I should talk with real-Ochako. She had been listening, after all. 

 

“I think everyone did a good job! Well, Bakugo was…a little scary. You’re asking for my favorite? I guess that would have to be…Kirishima.”

 

That was fair. Honestly, for me, it had been a coin toss between Kirishima and Yaoyorozu, so any input was sorely needed.

 

“...Thanks, Chako.”

 

It took a bit of time for everyone to vote, but eventually…

“Everything’s all in!” Kaminari cheered.

 

Kirishima was standing by the board as well, ready to tally the votes. “Right, Kaminari, read ‘em out!”

 

In the end, we had a pretty unexpected outcome. Yaoyorozu had eight votes. Jirou had two votes. Bakugo had two votes…somehow. Finally, Kirishima had eight votes.

 

Kirishima, one of the frontrunners, spoke. “Right, not sure how we’re going to handle a tie like this.”

 

“I suggest Rock, Paper, Scissors or a death match.” Wow, a broken clock was right twice a day. Congrats, Ojiro. I then had to mentally apologize to Ochako, who was upset at me for being mean. 

 

Hagakure said something, I’m pretty sure, but it was quickly forgotten in the chaos of what happened next. Of course, the only one who could get this kind of attention was Bakugo. He stood up, pacing before throwing his arms in the air. “Are you fucking kidding me? Why am I not surprised, of course they won, it’s Kirishima and Yaoyarozou. I mean to be honest, it was pretty obvious they were gonna-”

 

Wow. Well, that confirms the “people here are lying about being canon” theory I had. Bakugo, no sorry, not-Bakugo, sat down before throwing his head in his hands. 

 

“Franco, you fucking idiota… ”

 

So his name was Franco. Good to know. Everyone was so surprised, even Fallia had woken up. 

 

“Did someone just speak Italian?!”

 

Kaminari agreed.

 

“I think… that was Italian… okay, I know why I had a hard time figuring out if he was an SI or not… Everything makes so much more sense.”

 

Now that we knew Bakugo was a self-insert, Kirishima, the representative of the isekaied, decided to make something clear. 

 

“Right”, he pointed at Bakugo, “ You no longer have an excuse to be an asshole. Stop.”

 

When he said that, I couldn’t help but laugh. It sounded like Kirishima was…this Franco person’s mom. HOOOONNNNNK! Was that…an airhorn? Everyone else seemed to be taking it pretty badly too. 

 

Ojirou winced. “Stop!!! My ears are still recovering from Jirou’s stupid sound blasts.”

 

Jirou was covering her ears and also closing her eyes…for some reason. I guess that’s the same philosophy as turning down the car radio to see better, right? Pony seemed to take it the worst. She screamed, slapping her hands over her ears. 

 

“ Ah! ”

 

Fallia realized it too. “Oh shit Pony-”

 

“Hey!”

 

“That hurt!”

 

Huh. Mineta and Kaminari can also finish each other’s thoughts, apparently.

 

The airhorn might have hurt, but it did get our attention. Momo walked to the front of the classroom again, ready to take the role of someone who had tied to become class representative.

 

“If I may? Firstly, I’m honored that so many of you chose me to represent you. However, I feel that in a situation as unique as ours, we need to be unique in our decision making. It's evident that both Kirishima and myself offer qualities that are similar and qualities that can cover the weaknesses of the other. Furthermore, as our class is made up of both those who are reincarnated and those who are ‘canonical’, both require appropriate representation in the decisions we make. Therefore, with your consent, I propose that Kirishima and myself both take charge of things as Co-Leaders.”

 

Kirishima grinned. He didn’t seem upset at the situation at all, but I think that’s just the kind of person he is. 

 

“Hey, that works for me if you guys are fine with it!”

 

Fallia gave not one, not two, not three, but four thumbs-up with Dark Shadow. I giggled quietly, mentally pointing it out to Ochako. 

 

“Works for me! Good luck and please lead us toward salvation”, Kaminari said. 

 

Salvation, what are we, a cult? Are we, like, the Salvation Church or something? My train of thought got derailed by having to explain that reference to Ochako, and before I knew it, the bell rang, and class was over. 

 

“Class is dismissed. Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, I’ll tell you guys what you need to do as reps later.”

 

Kirishima grinned again. Seriously, he was always grinning. “Alright, guys! Physics ho!”

 

“Physics no.”

 

Tsunotori was always quiet, so I usually. couldn’t catch what she said. I definitely heard her this time, though, and it made Ochako laugh. I made a mental note to talk to her sometime. Hopefully. 

 

Somehow, Kaminari was leaving through the window. Seriously? I mean, we invented doors for a reason, Pikachu.

 

Fallia was also acting weird. This might just be their normal, though…

 

“Hold up, I don’t think I’ll get a perfect attendance right now. Lemme just…”, they started Naruto-running, “sprint the fuck into the Support Studio. Totally for no reason! HAHA!”

 

Well, like Kirishima said. Physics ho, or whatever. Heave ho. Hee ho. For the next hour or so, I lost myself learning about…normal physics. Or, well, more like reviewing normal physics. Us self-inserts were all different ages, which meant we were all different grades. I was a senior in high school before I became Uraraka, who was…currently a freshman. Yeah, this was class 1-A, after all. Hey, at least I wasn’t one of these people in college right now, like Iida. Maybe it’s just the spirit of Iida living in him, but he’s been disciplined and serious about school, even though he probably already knows everything. Well, everything about basic subjects, at least.

 

My stomach was turning as I finally received my lunch from the long line. I looked around the cafeteria for a good place to sit. I didn’t really have a usual place to eat, so I would just pick whoever to sit with. Wait, no. There was something that was supposed to happen after the election, right? Well, I’ll sit with someone who definitely knows. It’s not like he’s hard to find. And with that, I took a seat at Iida’s table. The others at the table weren’t bad either. Midoriya, Kendo, and Yanagi. I looked at Iida curiously, but he seemed too lost in thought to chat.

 

Kendo suddenly waved at someone. “Hey, Kirishima!”

 

One of our new class representatives walked over, precariously balancing a tray of food with a megaphone. For some reason. 

 

“Itsuka! Anyone sitting here?”

 

“Nope, not right now.”

 

Kirishima slid over and sat down. “Sweet! So, how are y’all doing?”

 

Kendo seemed really happy. “You’re looking at 1-B’s class rep! Shiozaki’s our class’s vice rep.”

 

Kirishima mirrored her excitement. “Congratulations, then!”

 

Well, it was only polite to say something as well. “Congrats, Kendo!”

 

Kirishima began explaining what happened in our class as well. 

 

“And yeah, I got elected to 1-A’s position. Well, one of the members, anyways. Me and Yaoyorozu are splitting the position.”

 

“Yeah, I heard about that; after first period I ran into Yaoyorozu and she told me.”

 

Well, if Iida didn’t want to talk, it was good luck I ran into Kirishima. Well, he’s definitely the type to be well-prepared, so I might as well ask.

 

“What’s the megaphone for, Kirishima?”

 

“Ah, right, this thing! There’s the whole panic later on, so I’ve got this guy to help quell it. That, and I got Yaoyorozu’s air horn, so hopefully I can restore some semblance of order.”

 

Oh, right. The panic. I only remembered that because canon Ochako floated Iida to calm everyone down. 

 

Setsuna Tokage, the girl who could split her body, took the seat next to Kendo. She had managed to catch the tail end of our conversation (pun very much intended). 

 

“Wouldn’t that just make things louder?”

 

Kirishima paused and seriously thought about it. 

 

“You’d think, but no, everybody listens to a guy with a megaphone. Does a great job really cutting through the noise.”

 

I nodded. 

 

“I hope so. I’ve been in a crowd crush before, it’s kind of scary.”

 

“Well, that’s what the noisemakers are for, anyways”, Kirishima explained. 

 

Yanagi turned to me. “Crowd crush? What is the meaning of that term?”

 

Oh, right. It’s a bit of a niche term, maybe. Or was it linguistic drift?

 

“When a lot of people panic at once, they’ll run around and might hurt others accidentally. It’s really hard to move against a crowd of people, you know.”

 

Tokage detached her hand and levitated it a couple inches above her chair. 

 

Kendo hit her with her normal hand. “Show-off.”

 

“But yeah, hopefully it doesn’t devolve too much before we can stop it- that’s the beauty of having SIs about, I suppose. We solve problems. Feel like that should be a T-shirt or something.” Honestly, everything Kirishima says could fit on a t-shirt.

 

All of a sudden, someone yelled across the lunchroom like a knight challenging someone to a joust. 

 

“You!” 

 

“You!” Kirishima pointed back toward that direction.

 

Yep, it was Tetsutetsu. “Someone said that we’re super similar”, he said as he set his tray down next to Kirishima.

 

The two just stared at each other curiously for a minute. 

 

Kirishima finally broke the staredown. “Yeah, I can’t say I see it.”

 

Tetsutetsu gasped. “That’s what I was about to say! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!” 

 

He held out his hand for a handshake. Kirishima grinned back, grabbing the hand offered and shoulder bumping instead.

 

“Eijiro Kirishima!”

 

Both boys sat back down and started on their identical meals. Huh. So I guess the self-insert element wasn’t enough to make a noticeable difference after all.

 

Tetsutetsu waved at his classmates. “Oh, hey guys!” 

 

Suddenly, one of my favorite side characters appeared. 

 

Shishida walked up to our table. “Salutations! Sir Kuroiro and I were wondering if there was perhaps space at your table for two more?”

 

Yeah, it was Kuroiro. Shut up, I know I’m an edgelord. I also liked canon Tokoyami. 

 

Kirishima welcomed them as well. “Grab a seat! The more the merrier.”

 

Well, might as well say something . It’s really awkward just sitting here waiting for the panic to happen. 

 

“The food here is really good. I don’t know how they do it.”

 

Ghost girl-what was her name, Yanagi-agreed.

 

“I enjoy it very much myself, indeed.”

 

“Sir Lunch Rush is indeed a true master of cooking.” 

 

Wow, Shishida was so respectful, but I couldn’t help but try not to laugh. I had completely forgotten there was a hero named Lunch Rush here. And hearing him called Sir Lunch Rush? Yeah…my humor was broken.

 

“I’m definitely looking forward to this here pasta!”

 

Was Kirishima Australian or something? I’ve literally never met anyone who says “this here”, ironically or not.

 

“…And that’s why you’re avoiding the best part?”

 

Hey, what was the best part Tokage was talking about anyway? I glanced over, curious.

 

Kirishima just shrugged. “Hey, they’re tomato chunks. Good in sauce but not much else.”

The lizard girl gasped. 

 

“Blasphemy! You’d better be glad Kodai’s not here, she’d mess you up for that statement. C’mon, prez, back me up here. Prez?” 

 

Kendo, or their “prez”, was currently lost in thought, staring at Kirishima’s megaphone. She frowned. 

 

“Hey, Eijiro. It’s been bugging me- I know you said you need the megaphone, but do you really need it during lunch?”

 

I keep forgetting 1-B, or most of it, at least is still canon. 

 

“Oh, yeah, the panic’s sometime during lunch”, Kirishima explained, waving his fork around casually.

 

Tokage at least seemed to know what Kirishima was talking about. “During lunch? Wait, when exactly is this pani-”

 

WOMP. WOMP. WOMP. WOMP. WOMP. 

 

“Security level 3 has been broken. All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion.”

 

That was answered pretty quickly, hmm? Wow, apparently this messed-up world also likes messed-up coincidences.

 

Kirishima seemed to agree. “Well, now, apparently.”

 

Shishida stood up quickly, ready to help maintain order. 

 

“Everyone, we must promptly begin moving towards the exit.”

 

I stayed at my table, however. I didn’t want to get into the crowd before everyone had calmed down. It was so loud. There was a chorus of confused voices. Even the self-inserts didn’t know the exact time of the panic, after all. Still, I was definitely able to hear Kirishima’s megaphone being put to use.

 

“EVERYONE CALM DOWN! We’re starting to form a bit too much of a mob- let’s take a deep breath and just evacuate calmly, okay? We’re students of U.A.- it’s up to us to act like it!”

 

I had avoided the worst of the crowd, but it was still hard to move, or even see Kirishima. Ochako, who has always been the more socially aware of us two, noticed something. 

 

“Everyone…still seems scared.”

 

Luckily for us, the third years took action before an actual stampede started. Mirio stood up on his table, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

“HE’S RIGHT! This is the time to act like a hero, and that means NOT PANICKING! Look around: nobody’s in any danger!”

 

He seemed to watch over everyone at once, and the students calmed down, seeing that the upperclassmen had the situation under control.

 

“Anyone who’s ever helped in a crisis situation, stand up now! Put to use what you learned then! Everyone else, follow their lead! Let’s work together! PLUS ULTRA!”

 

Gosh, I wasn’t even technically supposed to be in this universe, let alone this school, and I still felt hyped up. I noticed Koda moved to help students who were knocked down during the initial rush of people, and decided to join in.

 

I saw a girl with green eyes sitting on the ground nearby. Mental once-over, check. She definitely wasn’t a main character, at least. Or anyone specifically mentioned in the series. Still, she was hurt, and that was that.

 

“Hey, are you alright?”, I ask, pulling her up. No matter which world I was in, I was not physically strong. Thank goodness for Zero Gravity, I guess. 

 

The girl wobbled a bit before regaining her balance. 

 

“Yeah, I think I might get a few bruises, but I’ll be alright.”

 

Now was the time a normal aspiring hero like Kirishima would say something nice, or maybe even something inspiring. Instead, this unnamed girl was stuck with me.

 

“Uhm…yeah. Go get some ice.”

 

As I helped another student pick up some folders they had dropped in the crowd, I was also mentally banging my head into a wall. Oh my god, “go get some ice?” Seriously? Not something like “take care of yourself”, even? 

 

Ochako, bless her as always, kept me sane.

 

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, ok?”

 

I sighed and mentally thanked her. “You really do always know what to say, don’t you?”

 

The lunchroom panic reaffirmed my resolve- I needed that support gear as soon as possible, ideally before the USJ tomorrow. Everything else came second. So, after school that day, I reluctantly headed over to the Support Lab. I was kind of nervous, since Hatsume was…a bit of a loose cannon in canon. But hopefully Power Loader could keep her in check long enough for me to get stuff done. 

“Um, hello? Is this where to go for costume changes and support items?” Great, now I sounded like I worked in customer service or something. Um, hello? I mimicked myself mockingly in my head.

I was immediately ambushed by a certain pink-haired ball of energy. No, not the real Ochako. She’s in my head still. Still, did it even count as an ambush if you were expecting it? 

“Heh heh heh! Power Loader sensei! Someone just came in! I bet they want an upgrade, so can I get my babies on the job? I’m sure I’ve got the perfect one somewhere!”

Jesus Christ, Hatsume. Even expecting you I nearly jumped out of my skin. I swear, that girl could work in a haunted house if she wanted. 

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “Uh, thank you. I’d like to replace my costume’s helmet with goggles and…um…get something to improve my offense. And maybe range too?”

People say you can imagine whatever you want, so they imagine things like having a nice house and lots of money, or being famous. At that moment, I imagined slamming my head into a table repeatedly. I had the thoughts ready, why couldn’t I just…talk? Ugh, I sure hope at least Power Loader knows about the whole self-insert thing. Actually, wait, no one would even know what the original Ochako was like besides people who were also isekaied here…

Sometimes you just need someone to yell at you until the voices go away. Today, that someone was going to be Hatsume, apparently.

“Ooh, goggles? You’re in luck, I’ve got a lot of goggles since someone else requested them today. Here, try this!” Hatsume chucked a pair that looked like a medieval torture device.

Well, let’s hope I don’t die or lose my eyes and that Hatsume doesn’t get arrested for involuntary manslaughter, because she’s pretty important for the class. Oh, ow ow ow! After blinking to see if I still have my eyes (I do, thank god), I pried off the pair of goggles. Turns out, the strap on the back was actually a band of criss-crossing metal wires. No wonder just putting them on gave me a headache. 

“Uhm, Hatsume?”

Hatsume was currently hitting a hammer against what looked like a weirdly shaped lump of scrap metal to me, but most likely one of her next “babies”. She was deeply absorbed in her work, and the sound of metal against metal drowned my voice out easily.

I cleared my throat. Nothing. 

“Hatsume?”

Another pair of goggles was flung at me. This one looked more like a cross between skiing goggles and a virtual reality headset. It was a shade of blueish white instead of pink or magenta, but really, if it matched my uniform was the least of my priorities here. It fit comfortably and covered my eyes but not my nose or mouth. 

“Thank you, Hatsume,” I said genuinely. It was a bit awkward being with someone so much more…extroverted? Did she count as extroverted? She could spend all day tinkering with her inventions and talking to no one except maybe Power Loader, after all. 

“Ooh, I have an idea. Some kind of grappling hook, maybe?” I thought out loud.

Having more mobility in the air would be really useful for fights, and could let me get closer to others to immobilize them before they could do much fighting back. Plus, using a grappling hook would be a lot better for me than for most people, since I could just…negate my weight if necessary. 

Ochako agreed too. “Hey, yeah, that sounds pretty fun! It could also help keep me in place if I had my quirk active.”

After a bit more waiting, Hatsume chucked a pair of fingerless gloves at me. I ran my hand across them curiously. The fabric felt like mesh even though I couldn’t see my hand through them at all. I put one on, making a fist with my hand before opening it. Yeah, the material definitely wasn’t cheap. Not that Hatsume was the type to cheap out on things for her babies, or that U.A. was that kind of school. The gloves were a shade of bright pink, and had some weight to them. 

Well, I did mention a grappling hook. Was it…yeah, there was definitely a rope inside the padding. There was a bit more padding on the top, I noticed. That must be where the main spool is. And the hook looked like some strange kind of silver bracelet. It gleamed around my wrist. This was just what I needed. At least, it looked like it wouldn’t kill me immediately upon usage.

“Thank you so much, Hatsume!”

With that, I left the genius inventor to continue caring for her babies.

Along with finally convincing me to go to the Support Lab, the panic of the lunchroom reminded me that no matter what messy changes were made to this world, canon was still moving right along. That meant one thing. Our first true test was approaching. Everything from the start of the school year to now was just practice. If I thought the battle trials were hard, I was in trouble. 

 

The next major event? There would be real people out there, fighting their hardest to kill each and every single one of us. If I couldn’t handle an Iida actively holding himself back at all, I don’t really know what I’ll be able to do. For the first time since I arrived in this world, in Ochako Uraraka’s body, I was truly scared.

 

What would happen here if I died? Would Ochako be able to return to her own body, and would I be able to go back home? Or…or did all of this, my life, her life, just…end? I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything here. But…I didn’t want to die yet. Not here, in a foreign world, in a body that wasn’t mine.

 

I sighed and stood up from the swivel chair in my dorm, stretching as I did so. There was only one thing that took my mind off things when I got into one of these moods. Well, actually, there were two things, but I didn’t see any cats nearby. So, sadly, training it was. After changing into my hero uniform, I decided I was going to make some trees near the grounds have a bad day. 

 

I braced myself, widening my stance before pressing the only button on my gloves. I had assumed it was what activated the grappling hook, but honestly, it could have started a game of Solitaire for all I knew. Probably not a good idea when it came to Hatsume and her inventions, honestly. It was too late for regrets, however, as I was dragged towards the tree that the hook managed to hit. I barely avoided hitting my head on the trunk as I activated Zero Gravity, now floating tethered only by the wiry rope that extended from one of my gloves. 

 

I released my quirk’s influence slowly, dropping to the ground safely. I just sat there for a moment, grateful for the fact that I was still alive and kept most of my IQ points. Well. That was a start. Now for even more fun, time to do it again. I tried to walk back to where I had aimed my grappling hook from the first time, and quickly realized I was still tethered to the tree. Ok, maybe I didn’t have that many IQ points in the first place. After a bit of experimentation (turns out pressing the button again worked), I was ready to try again. 

 

For the next hour and a half or so, I tried again and again, slowly getting used to the weight of the hook on my arm and the speed of the pull. My favorite thing was how it felt to be floating in the sunshine, a single rope being the only thing tying me to anything at all. There, at the edge of the gym grounds, I felt like I could just float away. 

 

Now, for reasons neither Uraraka or I were completely sure of, I had much less nausea using her quirk compared to her. I thought it could be because I was so used to getting nauseous that the effects of the quirk were just ignored by my mind. Then again, my weight limit was also much, much lower, so it evened out. 

 

So, while canon Uraraka would have been sick, but barely tired, I felt beat. It was already much better because of not having to wear a stuffy helmet in the sun. A simple pair of goggles? Were they even goggles if they looked more like a cross between sunglasses, a visor, and a VR headset? After a quick shower in the locker room and changing back to casual clothes, I headed back to my dorm. 

 

“Hey, Ochako, what drink flavor do you want? White Peach or Tropical Punch?” 

 

The voice in my head took a bit to stir. 

 

“Huh? I don’t really mind, to be honest.”

 

I shrugged. “Really? I’ll have a white peach, then.”

 

The crack of the seal was always nice to hear, and after the exhaustion from training, my worry about the USJ incident had temporarily been numbed into submission. I had worked and did what I could for now. Anything that happens is a problem for later me, and if something went really wrong, it’s not like I would be around to care. 

 

With the thought of writing down to buy more soda flavors that Ochako hasn’t tried before, I fell asleep.

Chapter 5: Distinct Terrors

Summary:

I was sick af writing this but hope you like anyway

Fuzzy dreams. Clouds, sheep, pillows. The slow and inexorable march of time towards death. I woke up. If I had the days right, today should be it. Hope I don’t die…maybe. Who knows, if I died, maybe Uraraka will have her body back. Still, any damage on her body would probably carry over…Whatever. At least until I find out otherwise, I’m going to try my best to stay alive. Of course, I was having an existential crisis in class. What else was being in class even good for? 

 

The bell rang, bringing Mrs. Aizawa with it. 

 

“ Welcome to class. We don’t have any normal classes today, so leave your stuff here. Instead we’ll be having a fun little field trip-”

 

Kirishima confirmed what I was thinking.

 

“Wait, the USJ?”

 

Aizawa sighed. 

 

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

 

“What’s the USJ?”

 

Oh, right. Mineta wouldn’t know, not being a self-insert and all.

 

Fallia-slash-Tokoyami gave their whole textbook explanation.

 

“It stands for the Unforeseen Simulation Joint and it’s where we practice do rescue traini-”

 

Sero interrupted.

 

“Hold up, isn’t that the place where we get attacked by villains?”

 

Bakugo, calmer now that we knew he was a self-insert too, agreed.

 

“It is… Wait a minute, you’re actually gonna make us fucking go through that???”

 

Aizawa, tired as ever, cleared her throat. 

 

“Let’s stop wasting time and let me explain. All of you, change into your hero costumes and meet up outside the locker rooms, and I’ll explain what’s going on there.”

 

Well, looks like it was locker room time. I stood up, stretched, and began following the rest of the girls to our locker room. Thank goodness I was actually somewhat learning where everything was now. 

 

I’ve never really liked locker rooms, but that was probably because most of my experience with them is from swim class. It is not comfortable trying to change into swim caps or into school clothes while you’re still soaked. Still, a “field trip” was a “field trip.” I found a little corner for myself and began changing. 

 

After a few minutes, we were joined by Class B. 

 

The mushroom girl-I don’t remember her name- spoke up.

 

“H-hey, Yaoyorozu, right?”

 

“Yes, that is my name. And you are…?”

 

“K-Kinoko Komori. Do you mind if I just-”

 

“Oh, sorry!” 

 

Yaoyorozu moved out of the way.

 

Komori moved into the area that Momo was blocking. 

 

“Thanks. Hey, do you know what’s going on today?”

 

“I believe I heard Kirishima mention that villains appear at the USJ? He seemed to believe that Principal Nedzu had it under control, however.”

 

Komori looked shocked.

 

“Villains?”

 

Another voice-was that Tokage-chimed in. 

 

“I imagine it won’t be too bad, Komori- we’ll probably be far away from the action, especially now that they know what’s coming.”

 

“I hope so…”

 

“We’ll be all right, Komori. You just need to have faith that everything will be alright.”

 

Well, that had to be Shiozaki. No one else dropped the f-word that much. 

 

Eventually, we all finished changing and headed outside, coming face-to-face with Vlad King.

 

“ Good, you’re all here. We’re going to be heading to Gym Gamma today to work on quirkless sparring.” 

 

Kaminari seemed really excited over quirkless sparring, which I fully understood. There was an overwhelming sense of relief that we didn’t have to face actual villains today. The rest of the class felt the same way.

 

“Ooooh, since-” 

 

Kirishima didn’t get to finish his thought before being interrupted by Aizawa.

 

“Exactly.”

 

I was so happy too, that Principal Nedzu actually did something responsible for once. 

 

“I suppose it makes sense to avoid the USJ since the villains are attacking there.”

 

Shiozaki nodded.

 

“God gave us a ‘canon divergence’.” 

 

Wait, Shiozaki was a self-insert too? 

 

Some guy from Class B spoke up. I didn’t know his name either.

 

“Villains??” 

 

Iida shrugged.

 

“Not really important or relevant right now since we’re not going there.”

 

Kaibara-finally a character whose name I knew-brought our minds back to actual school.

 

“So we’re just working on quirkless sparring today?”

 

Vlad King nodded. “Exactly. Being able to fight quirkless is an important part of a pro hero; particularly if villains have something that can nullify your quirk or a quirk like [Erasure].”

 

Aizawa-said user of Erasure-agreed. 

 

“That’s why we’ll be working on your sparring skills today! Everyone, follow us; we’ll explain more once we reach Gym Gamma!”

 

Well, quirkless sparring is just a fancy name for exercise. That sucks. But exercising sucking is much better than getting flung around by the bunch of teen heartthrobs that passed for villains in MHA. 

 

When we reached the gym, I noticed a few new faces. It was that cowboy teacher, Snipe. And then there was the guy who couldn’t keep his clothes on, the guy who embodied the statement “you are what you eat”, and a literal magical girl. In other words, the Big Three. 

 

Snipe waved to the other teachers. 

 

“Vlad, Aizawa, glad you guys made it here.”

 

Vlad King took care of the introductions.

 

“Class, this is Snipe, the third year heroics teacher. He’s joined here today by three of our strongest students, who are collectively known as the Big Three.”

 

A blond boy with an exuberant smile waved.

 

“I’m Mirio Togata! Nice to meet everyone!”

 

Next was a peppy-looking blue-haired girl.

 

“And I’m Nejire Hado! Super cool to meet you guys!”

 

A shy-looking boy with black hair did a small wave.

 

“I’m Tamaki Amajiki.”

 

“Now, with introductions out of the way, let’s get started. All Might should be arriving to help us later, but right now-”

 

Mr. King was cut off by Bakugo, who sounded uncharacteristically scared, at least until I remembered he was a self-insert.

 

“Oh shit!”

 

Everyone else in the class was freaking out too. No, not over Bakugo swearing or talking over a teacher. They were freaking out over the dark, misty purple tendrils of a portal opening on the nearby wall. 

 

“Shit.”

 

“Putanginang putangmadreng iyan.”

 

“Fuck!”

 

All of the teachers prepared for combat, instinctively moving in front of the students. Snipe drew a gun. Aizawa’s hair stood up as he tried to erase the portal.  Vlad King pulled blood out of his tanks.

 

The annoying omnicide gamer boy, Shigaraki, emerged from the portal.

 

“All Might’s not here? That’s a shame. I’d hate to think we’d come all this way for nothing.”

 

God, he was even uglier in person. The sound of a bullet rang out, but a portal blocked the bullets. 

 

“Don’t bother. Kurogiri got an upgrade from sensei. Hey, do you know what I hate even more than All Might?” 

 

Tomura was scratching his neck so much you would think he had a mosquito bite on there when he spoke again.

 

“ It’s cheaters. So when a guide NPC came to me and told me that so many of U.A.’s students were cheaters, peeking at my battle maps before they were ready, I wasn’t sure what to do.”

 

He grinned, looking more demented than my grandpa. Honestly, I had to make these stupid jokes to keep myself from going crazy. Having the panic of someone else in your head when you were panicking as well was…not fun.

 

Shiggy continued with his villain monologue and no one else tried to kill him for…reasons.

 

“But then I figured it out: why not skip the tutorial mission? Why should you guys get an XP grinder when you’ve already got a walkthrough?”

 

His eyes gleamed with pure hatred. 

 

“Good luck, heroes. You’re going to need it.”

 

Being sucked into a portal, at least one of Kurogiri’s, felt like falling into quicksand. There was the feeling of suction when I tried to move my legs, and resisting it was futile. We fell, Ochako and I, two minds and one body, into the sudden darkness.

 

Kurogiri could have at least factored height into his teleportation. That would have saved me from falling out of a tree, and would have saved me from panickedly snatching at the intrinsic strings of my quirk to slow my fall. Still, no one, hero or villain, seemed to have noticed me so far. Good. That was one step towards getting out of this clusterfuck alive. I heard the sound of someone yelling. Step two, find out what the heck was going on. Whether that was some student or some villain, I had some unfinished business with them. 

 

It was surprisingly easy to walk quietly in this forest-the training camp forest. Ochako was on full alert inside my head, giving me a second pair of eyes to assess the situation with. A pile of dead leaves. A stick I might have stepped on. How to use short bursts of Zero Gravity to be quieter. And through it all, she talked, knowing I needed this as much as she needed to say something. So, as we made our way through the underbrush of a dark forest we were supposed to see much later, Ochako talked. She tells me about how she learned the short burst trick from going to get midnight snacks, about her first time cooking being a disaster, about anything and everything. Anything to distract both of us from the fact that a single mistake could kill us both.

 

“You! Fight me! Let’s be manly!”

 

Was that Kirishima? We were getting close, whatever was happening. 

No, it wasn’t Kirishima. A boy with spiky gray hair stood in a clearing against a strange-looking man with freakishly long arms and another man whose face was obscured by a frowny mask. 

 

Ok, so fuck stealth, I guess, right, Tetsutetsu? He didn’t seem to be having much trouble, though, as even though the masked man now had an ax somehow and the guy with the long arms was swinging them around trying to hit him, Tetsutetsu smashed through them all. In no time at all, the long-armed man was groaning on the ground, something likely broken, and the man with the axes was floating. 

 

Yes, I had gotten involved. It wasn’t super hard to tag someone when they’re laser-focused on someone else, after all. With his target immobilized, Tetsutetsu delivered a sweeping round of a metallic fist to the villain’s face, knocking him out. In response, I released my quirk’s hold over his body.

 

“Ochako Uraraka.”

 

I nodded at him.

 

“Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!”

 

We didn’t even have time to celebrate, however, before I caught the flash of a blade coming right towards him. Shit. Shit shit shit. Time seemed to slow down as I ran at Tetsutetsu and pushed him down to the ground. Thank goodness he hadn’t been hardened, since that would have stopped me from being able to move him. And that? That was Swordkil. Wolfram’s second in command. I doubt Tetsutetsu could have lasted against his blades alone for too long. In the movie, Midoriya at high percentages was needed to take him out.

 

We didn’t have Midoriya at high percentages now. We had Tetsutetsu, who was strong, but who could barely take out Mustard with Kendo’s help in an arc later than this. And we had me, who got my ass kicked by Iida not even fully trying. Great. The “try not to die” goal of today was looking a bit harder to meet.

 

Swordkil drew his arm blades, facing the both of us. 

“Stop trying to pretend to be heroes. That kind of bullshit only gets you hurt .”

 

He moved quickly, with the ease of experience that neither Tetsutetsu or I had. Thoughts frantically whirled through my mind. I could use my hook to grapple away, but that would leave Tetsutetsu alone again and we’d be back at square one. In the end, I settled for something stupid. Stupid, but it probably saved our lives.

That’s right, I grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it at him. The dirt here being sandy really did help a lot, and using my quirk to keep it floating made a sort of pseudo smoke bomb that let me drag Tetsutetsu to cover. 

It wasn’t exactly great, two kids both running on pure adrenaline crouching behind a bush together as we watched Swordkil’s arms in the smoke, searching for us, for anything to impale. 

Actually, this impromptu smoke bomb thing was really good. It’s not hard to keep zeroed at all, since there’s only so much a few handfuls of dirt weigh. 

“Right, what do you want to do?”, I whisper.

“Fight them!”

He ran out from behind cover, yelling a charge.

Oh my god. Ok, ok, this was fine. I could work with that. But first, this idiot just gave away my cover. It should be fine since Swordkil is occupied by Tetsutetsu, but still. I hooked my way on top of a tree just in case, dropping my smoke field. 

Tetsutetsu was having a hard enough time just blocking one of the swords constantly flashing towards him. I noticed the second sword was making its way around him, towards his back, so I leapt down from the tree and tried to tag Swordkil, feinting with my right hand before going to my left. 

Swordkil dodged, instinctively bringing up an arm to block. It nicked my arm, just barely not letting me activate my quirk on him, red rivulets of blood trickling down. I’ve never been stabbed before, but it hurt. 

Tetsutetsu ran up to us, wanting to protect me or maybe to just end this. I tagged his arm mid-run, then released him over Swordkil’s head. This maneuver was exhausting, since I was more used to levitating myself than other people and Tetsutetsu in his hardened form was heavy , but the maneuver actually managed to surprise Swordkil for once. Tetsutetsu lunged forward, wanting to put an iron fist into the villain’s face, while I sprang like a cat, hungry for just one touch . Just one touch and it would be over. That was all I needed. All I needed. 

Blood. I heard Tetsutetsu’s roar of rage just as I heard rather than saw the blood pounding in my ears. Just as I heard rather than saw the sword through my hand. 

I could feel my consciousness rapidly fading. No. Just a little more. With the last of my strength, I smiled and activated my quirk. 

Maybe I was hallucinating from blood loss. Maybe it was shock from seeing my hand get impaled cleanly through. But there was a bright flash, a thud, and…a blinding smile.

Chapter 6: Convalescence

Notes:

# The current year is going to be 2256.
The Dawn of Quirks started in 2020 with the birth of the Luminous Baby, but societal upheaval didn't really start taking off until the Luminous Baby reached teenager age, so around 15 or so.
The actual point of divergence from our world was when All for One and Yoichi's mother was born, however, which was around 1990.
Couple more dates, just to nail things down:
- Chapter #1 (and thus all the original SIs) appear on March 23rd, 2256; that's also when the assessment letters go out.
- The Quirk Assessment Test (Chapter #2) takes place on April 13th, a Sunday. U.A. regularly has school every day but Saturday on a six-day schedule.
- That sets Chapter #3 on Monday, April 14th; Chapter #4 on Tuesday, April 15th; Chapter #5 and the USJ on Wednesday, April 16th; and finally Chapter #6 on Thursday April 17th and Friday April 18th.
- Chapter #7 is going to pick up from Saturday, April 19th, and last all the way until Wednesday, May 7th. The first year Sports Festival is that day, followed by the Second Years on May 8th and the Third Years on May 9th.

Well. I’m not dead. That’s a start. Did I…no, my body still felt wrong. Ok, not dead, but not returned either. In other words, my consciousness still existed, and it was still stuck inside the wonderful world of My Hero Academia. Where all your dreams come true, if your dreams involve being dramatically impaled. Experts say that a person’s mind can block out anything they don’t want to remember in the event of something truly terrible happening. Well, I guess literally getting impaled in the hand to give the guy I was with a better chance against an enemy didn’t count as trauma to my brain. Not surprised, given some of the absolute bullshit in my world. 

 

That guy I was with…ugh, my brain is fuzzy. What was his name again? I should know this, I watched the anime. Most of it. Ok, some of it. Tetsutetsu! That was it! Was he ok? He’s definitely more durable than someone like me, with his quirk that lets him harden into steel. Still…did he even manage to land that hit and take down that crazy sword guy? In the anime, I know that Kirishima had a hell of a time with that mask man from the Shie Hassakai, so hardening type quirks can definitely be overcome with raw power. It’s not like I know a lot about that guy I fought. I know Swordkil’s from the movie. Not like I ever watched it. 

 

Ugh, why was I even worrying? The fact that I was here, alive, and unwounded in the first place meant that the heroes showed up, right? I mean, call me crazy if you want, but I don’t think Recovery Girl is exactly hoofing it to be on the frontlines here, and no one else I know of can make a stab wound look like nothing ever happened. 

 

I moved my arm experimentally, marveling at something that I usually took for granted. No pain at all. That was…actually really impressive. I mean, there must have been some sort of…tendons or something in a human palm, right? And I could just…move my hands around with no problems at all.

 

A sound from somewhere next to me startles me out of my haze. I brace myself, palm at the ready with my quirk, until I get a better look at who exactly it was. Oh…it was just…Tsuyu Asui. The frog girl. She still looked unconscious and a bit pale, in my very inexperienced medical opinion. The voice in my head agreed. 

 

“I’m worried. Even with Recovery Girl’s help, she doesn’t look too good.”

 

I try to assuage Ochako’s worries. 

“No way U.A. is stupid enough to let a student actually stay seriously injured. Especially immediately after they just got raided by villains without any proper response.”

I could almost feel Ochako’s frowning. God, that was weird, considering I had her body still and so her face wasn’t actually frowning-whatever. I was getting off topic.

“Still…it’s strange…”

 

“Yeah, you think so too, Ochako? There’s no way the principal and all these pro heroes were kept in the dark completely, right? Kirishima or someone with a bit of initiative would have told them about the plot, or at least the basics.”

 

“Which means…even if I don’t like to think about it, someone leaked the information to the villains.”

 

I thought about it for a while, considering other possibilities. 

“Or villain self-inserts, like the class has considered before. But yeah, I’d have to agree, the traitor theory looks promising. A villain S/I wouldn’t be able to predict the actions of the staff as well as they did, right? Obviously, the change in venue was to throw off the villains.”

 

Ochako did the mental equivalent of tapping me on the shoulder.

“Hey, Sam? Tsuyu’s waking up.”

 

Sure enough, I could see the other girl stirring from her sleep. I decided to check in with her, for Ochako’s sake.

“Are you alright? I’ve been awake for a while now, but you look kind of pale still.”

 

Tsuyu opened her eyes and took in her surroundings slowly-I should really start doing that-before looking back down.

“Kero. Kinda?... Kinda.”

 

Well, Ochako, you were right again. I decided to let her take over asking questions for now, relaying what she wanted to say to Asui.

“So, what happened to land you in here? I kind of got impaled in the arm.”

 

The last part was my own addition, but otherwise, I didn’t mind fulfilling my role as a mouthpiece for Ochako’s thoughts. Maybe we could do this more often.

 

“I got hit by… a projectiles quirk, couldn't dodge on time.”

 

I nodded, sympathizing with my fellow hero student. These villains were really so annoying. You couldn’t get close to them, you couldn’t keep your distance.

“Yeah, the impaling was done by a sword quirk. Some guy called Swordkil. Real creative.”

 

Tsuyu was staring at her own arm. Looks like Recovery Girl hadn’t gotten around to repairing it completely, as it was still wounded. 

“I am sorry to hear that. That name isn't- doesn't sound creative.”

 

Her voice was so weak, she really needed some iron supplements or something. I should know, I’m anemic. Used to be anemic? Are you or have you possessed an anemic body? You may be entitled to financial compensation-ok that’s it. Time to actually reply. I think really fast, but this will still get awkward if I drag it out.

 

“Mhm! That’s the joke. And don’t be sorry, I tagged him before I passed out, so I think Tetsutetsu-that metal guy from class B-beat his ass. Are you ok? You don’t sound good.”

 

My thoughts were scattered, like…like snowflakes dashed against a windowpane or a cracked egg with its shell broken into pieces or…

 

“You did well then… His name is Tetsutetsu, it's easy to remember, kinda redundant. I am good, slightly… odd.”

 

I laugh, jokes always pulling me back to the present.

“It gets better, his full name is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.”  

 

My impromptu roommate blinked slowly in surprise. 

“That's- surpriseful, what were his parents thinking?”

 

I shrug. I mean, we can only guess, right? Not like Tetsutetsu’s parents were main characters in the series.

“He’s a pretty nice guy, though, from what I can tell. He’s kind of like Kirishima.”

 

I could see Tsuyu thinking about it.

“Very animated I suppose.”

 

Yeah, you could definitely say that again. From what I saw of him during our fight, he was a bit…over the top. But it’s not like I minded. Hero school definitely brought out the eccentrics. 

“From what I can tell. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to sleep? I’m a bit tired too, Recovery Girl’s quirk takes a lot out of you.”

 

The frog girl nodded. 

“It seems so. I think I am going to stay here for a while.”

 

With that, Tsuyu took a deep breath and closed her eyes, no doubt taking me up on the suggestion. I made up my mind not to bother her any more, the poor girl needed anything she could get. And…on that note, maybe I did as well. God, I was tired. I wasn’t lying about Recovery Girl’s quirk taking a lot out of someone. Maybe I could just…sleep for a bit as well…

 

—

 

I checked the time on the wall-clock. Jeez, had it really been that long? I was supposed to leave, like, an hour ago! I did a mental once-over (well, more like a twice-over, with the real Ochako helping) of the room, making sure I had everything I brought with me. Which was…a bag. 

I grabbed the bag and decided to undergo the arduous task of finding the way out of this absolute unit of a labyrinth. Ok…left, no, that led to the restrooms. Downstairs? That seemed correct so far. Ok, down this hallway…?

I almost literally ran into Neito Monoma as he turned a corner in front of me. I mentally braced myself for a long talk. Monoma…he was one of my favorite characters. He’s the dramatic type, but probably more likeable on screen compared to in real life.

 

“Hello there! Uraraka of 1-A, yes?”

 

“And…you’re Neito Monoma?” Fuck it, it wasn’t like I was hiding I was a self-insert. Unless he’s the traitor somehow, there was no real harm in being a bit more straightforward. 

 

Monoma bowed dramatically. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in a production of Phantom of the Opera.

“That would be me, yes! How are you?”

 

How are you was always such a loaded question, I hated it. Still, he was probably asking out of kindness, or at least politeness.

“I’m doing better. What about you? Are you still hurt?”

 

“I’ve healed spectacularly thanks to Tokage and Recovery Girl! I’m glad to see you’ve healed as well!”, Monoma spoke as he dug around in a bag of his own, “Want a snack? I’m checking up on everyone.”

What did he have? Eh, I’ll find something I like, I’m not exactly picky. Monoma was a bit nicer than in the show. Maybe that was because of the trauma event horizon the entire school basically just went through. 

 

“Sure, thank you. That’s a nice thing to do. I’m leaving soon. Recovery Girl said I’m basically healthy, but to rest anyway.”

 

“Want Mochi, potato chips or cheese crackers?”

 

“Mochi, of course. Thank you!” That was one thing I had in common with the real Ochako Uraraka. Mochi snacks went hard.

 

I caught the small pack of mochi that Monoma had thrown at me. 

“There you go!”

 

I couldn’t help but feel relieved that I hadn’t dropped it. Maybe my reflexes were actually improving?

 

“You know, you’ve given me an idea. I should check up on Tetsutetsu before I leave.”

 

Monoma frowns at me.

“Is he alright?”

 

I really didn’t know. I assumed so, since his quirk was literal durability, but… 

“He should be, but I don’t know for sure. I passed out before I saw.”

 

Neito was rummaging through his bag again.

“I see. I’ll probably check up on him too.”

 

I swear, Monoma had like…one of those Mickey Mouse toolboxes. Was it a surprise tool that would help us later?

“What’re you looking for?”

 

“Dark chocolate. It’s high in iron. It would probably help him recover a bit.”

 

Oh, he’s meta. Ok. 

“Oh. Right. Uhm…definitely knew that.”

 

“Uh huh, sure you did. Do you know what room he’s in?”

 

No, seriously, Monoma was being really nice for some reason. Was he canon? Unfortunately, I was no help for the current question at hand. Again.

 

“I don’t. I haven’t been outside my room until right now.”

 

“Let’s go to the front desk and ask then. Unrelated, can I copy your quirk? I just need one so I can have it active so I don’t accidentally use the one I currently I have copied.”

 

“Sure? I didn’t know your quirk worked like that.”

 

I mean, I didn’t know he couldn’t control it. I guess it made sense and all, having so many different quirks flow in and out of you daily. 

 

Monoma quickly tapped my arm.

“Thanks!”

 

What was he thanking me for? He literally just tapped my arm.

“So…front desk?”

 

“Yep!”

There was the chipper Neito Monoma we all knew and loved or hated.

 

“How exactly does your Copy work? I didn’t know you couldn’t control which quirk was active.”

 

It was something I was curious about, especially since Monoma was currently trying to deal with some of its limitations. With Monoma being a side character, his quirk isn’t given too much fleshing out as far as I know.

 

“I can copy the quirk of any person I touch. Right now, mutations not part of the quirk don’t come with it. I can have up to 3-4, 5 minutes of use from the point of copying. From the quirks I have copied, there is 1 ‘active’ slot. I can choose which quirk that is, provided I have at least 2.”

 

Surprisingly, I actually understood that. 

“Who did you have active before, then, that Zero Gravity is the more preferable one?”

 

“Mirio Togata, his quirk allows his body to turn untouchable to all objects. It can make the whole body untouchable or only part. All objects includes the ground and clothes, however, so you can see why I don’t want to accidentally use it.”

 

Yeah, floating or making objects float randomly is a lot better than…that.

“Yeah, I don’t think losing all your clothes randomly would be very good anywhere, let alone in a hospital.”

 

The two of us finally arrive at the front desk. It’s pretty standard for being part of My Hero, just a clean counter and a succulent. Oh, and a receptionist, of course. The place wasn’t just staffed by robots.

 

“Do you want to ask or should I?”

 

I should probably actually get some practice talking to people.

“I don’t mind.”

 

I walked up to the front desk, talking to the tired-looking receptionist. 

“Excuse me, do you know where Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu is staying?”

 

She replied quickly that Tetsutetsu had already been allowed release from the hospital after bed rest. 

 

“Oh, he already left?”

 

“Yes, he was released some hours ago.”

 

Ok, glad he was ok. He was definitely the better fighter out of the two of us so far.

“Then I’ll head out as well. Please mark “Ochako Uraraka” as leaving.”

 

I turn back to Monoma while the receptionist double-checks the paperwork.

“Monoma, he already left!”

 

He doesn’t look too surprised. Guess he expected something like this?

“Glad he’s uninjured, at least. Well, I guess that means goodbye for now. See you at school?”

 

“Yeah, I guess. See you soon, Monoma.”

I prepare to leave, turning away from him and turning toward the exit, before being stopped.

 

“Want another pack of Mochi?”

Monoma was holding another pack above his bag. How much stuff did he have in there?

 

I catch the pack again. Two for two, not bad!

“Oh, thank you! See you at school soon!”

 

I wave at Monoma as I exit the hospital. School the next few days was going to be such a pain. The adults were definitely going to be much more serious than usual, seeing as the villains’ plan of disrupting the public’s faith in hero society had already begun. And then there was the almost certainty that there was a traitor in our midst. Jeez, school was getting so complicated and we were still only on the USJ arc!

 

The Hosu incident would be next in canon order, but Iida and Midoriya were both self-inserts and Todoroki ran away from his dad already. Would the incident really be skipped, or did the villains have something else planned? I mean, I’m not holding my breath. We all thought the USJ would be easy-peasy, and look at us now. No, better that we be prepared. I have to be prepared. At the very least, I have to avoid damaging Ochako’s body as much as possible. Recovery Girl is going to be stretched to her limits with people like Midoriya around. Still, I’d gotten past one arc out of like, a billion. That’s got to count for something, right? 

Chapter 7: Amelioration

Summary:

The Sports Festival looms on the horizon, but the aftereffects of the attack can still be felt.

I bounced my leg anxiously as I waited. Why was I even anxious when I hadn’t done anything wrong during the USJ attack? Well, the traitor would most likely be unmasked soon, that’s why. While I’m usually not exactly the violent type, I wanted to punch them with the hand that had gotten stabbed as a result of their actions.

After about twenty minutes, I heard the principal call me in. 

“You may come in, Ms. Uraraka!”

Of course, seeing as I was in the middle of thinking about the traitor, I was a bit startled. 

“Oh! Thank you, I’ll be right in.”

——————————————————————

“It’s quite good to see you doing better than last week, Ms. Uraraka.”

I knew it was just formality, something Nedzu said to all students, but it was a nice thing to hear regardless.

“Mhm! Thank goodness for Recovery Girl, I know a lot of people would have been in much worse situations otherwise.”

Nedzu appeared to take me seriously. 

“That is very true; I’m quite grateful that we have her on staff.”

That police detective, Mr. Tsukauchi, cut-in.

“Are you ready to get started, Ms. Uraraka?”

Well, there was no reason to answer no. Both Ochako and me were ready, seeing as that was the point of us coming here.

“Yes.”

Tsukauchi then proceeded to take out a small tape recorder, probably for record-keeping purposes.

“This is an official record by Detective Tsukauchi on Sunday, April 20, 2256, in the Principal’s Office at U.A. High School. Miss, can you please state your name?”

“Ochako Uraraka.”

That was true for the records, I guess. Much better for everyone involved than inputting the name of someone who literally doesn’t exist in this world. 

“I see. And Ms. Uraraka, can you tell me one truth and one lie, please, for the purpose of calibrating my quirk?”

Oh right. The police detective had that as an actual quirk. I thought he was just really good at finding the truth, but it was literal. Haha, the traitor must be freaking out. For now, time to calibrate the bullshit quirk. 

“Uhm, ok. Two plus two equals four. The moon is made of blue cheese.”

I hope anyone could tell which one was the truth without a lie detecting quirk. Obviously the moon was made out of blue cheese, that’s why it controls the tides. The ocean is blue and cheese is- ok you know what, this tangent was stupid anyway.

Tsukauchi seemed satisfied with what I said. “That works. Now, can you please tell me the name of your quirk or quirks?”

Another easy one. 

“My quirk’s name is Zero Gravity.”

I mean, you could argue semantics and say it was Ochako’s quirk and not mine, but seeing as I can use it I’d say I was now included in the quirk package.

“And that is your sole quirk?”

Oh right, if there was a traitor on the side of the League, they might have an extra one from All for One. So it was important that I agreed.

“Yes.”

“Okay. To the best of your abilities, Ms. Uraraka, can you please describe the events of the attack upon your class four days ago?”

I did my best, with Ochako filling in some blanks as I went.

“A group of villains known as the League of Villains used Kurogiri, someone with a portal quirk, to drop everyone into the forest from the training camp. I was near Tetsutetsu, and we fought…I think three or four villains. Tetsutetsu was much more straightforward, while I mostly hid and found opportunities to get a hit in with my quirk. There was this decently powerful villain, I know his name is Swordkil, he was pretty hard to fight. I remember being out of options and sticking out my hand to get stabbed as a last ditch effort to touch him, then I think I fainted from blood loss or shock.”

“I see. And where did you recognize Swordkil from?”

“A movie from my universe that’s based on your world. I think a few classmates briefed you guys on our situation. It’s probably not relevant, but the movie’s called Heroes Rising, I think? I’ve never watched it.”

“And you didn’t recognize him from anywhere else?”

“No. I only remembered him from the movie because his name was Swordkil. That’s a stupid name.”

Detective Tsukauchi probably wanted to be sure I wasn’t in contact with Wolfram or his crew. Unfortunately, it was still isekai bullshit. I mean, who chooses villainy and decides on Swordkil for his name? It literally sounds like a five-year-old put two words he thought were cool together.

Even Nedzu was trying not to laugh too much.

“I cannot disagree with that, Ms. Uraraka.”

Tsukauchi tried to get us back on topic. 

“Now, I’m going to give you a list of names, Ms. Uraraka; please audibly respond with yes if you have met the person before Wednesday, either online or digitally, or no if you have not met the person before.”

This was easy enough. 

“Tomura Shigaraki.”

“No.”

“Tenko Shimura.”

“No.”

“Kurogiri.”

“No.”

“Oboro Shirakumo.”

“No.”

“All for One.”

“No.”

“Himiko Toga.”

“No.”

“Touya Todoroki.”

“No.”

“Geten Himura.”

“No.”

“Re-Destro.”

“No.”

“Dr. Kyudai Garaki.”

“No.”

“Dumas.”

“No.”

“Yuga Aoyama.”

“No.”

 

“And I’ve heard of everyone here through universe metaknowledge except for Dumas.”

But, since I was the type of person who could extrapolate based on incomplete information, I could gather that Dumas was likely the villain name of Yuga Aoyama in this universe. That meant we had another threat to deal with. 

“…could we help him, maybe?”

We could try, Ochako. We could try.

…I don’t know how much trying we’ll be able to do if he keeps firing lasers at us, though.

The detective seemed like he wanted to wrap up soon. Maybe to get to his next interview in time.

“Got it. Just a few more questions left, Ms. Uraraka. First: are you a member of the League of Villains?”

“No. I would probably die very quickly if I did that.”

Understatement of the century. Between the inherent danger of the villains and the heroes that would no doubt hunt me down, it would…really be a stupid idea to join. 

“Are you in contact with any members of the League of Villains or people you believe might be members of the League of Villains?”

…I really didn’t know how logically I was supposed to respond to that.

“Well, looking at it logically, the most likely reason for the League to know of the location change is probably a traitor inside the school, so probably unknowingly.”

Did a traitor count as a league member? Well, probably, since they are associated so closely. 

“And, as a final question- do you have any more information that you think would be useful for this investigation?”

I thought about everything for a moment. 

“I don’t believe so…you probably already know this, but based on the timeline Stain should move soon.”

Nedzu chimed in, “According to Mr. Kirishima and Mr. Iida- it was the day of the Sports Festival that he attacked Ingenium, no?”

“I believe so. Yeah, Iida took a call about that after his match.”

Of course, there was no guarantee that things would happen the way that they happened in canon. We were literally living through proof of that with the not-USJ incident.

“Yes, we are aware of that, then. Is there anything else that you have to share?”

It’s not super useful normally, but seeing as Dad-for-One is canon here, maybe this is too. 

“This is a popular headcanon, so not sure if it works here, but there’s a theory that Monoma and Toga are related? I read fanfictions like that before.”

“That is an interesting theory, Ms. Uraraka. We’ll keep that in mind.”

Probably not the most useful, but still, tracking Toga and keeping her contained was very important. She could infiltrate any school event if she really wanted to, after all.

“That’s it. Ask someone like Kiri if you want better knowledge.”

“We’ve already talked to Mr. Kirishima, but I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your time.”

“It’s good that they already talked to Kirishima,” Ochako said. “He’s a great guy, from what we know about him.”

“Yes, I think that’s all that we have for you today, Ms. Uraraka.”

“Have a wonderful remainder of your weekend.”

It was only after I had left the office that I realized I hadn’t replied to Uraraka. 

“Right, yeah, he is. I’m just a bit worried that everyone who’s working against the villains isn’t pooling their information enough. The traitor sure is working well with the League compared to the struggle of the school, the heroes, and the S/Is all trying to stop them.”

Ochako didn’t let that deter her.

“Well, Mr. Tsukauchi’s quirk should be pretty hard for the traitor to get around. And hopefully Principal Nedzu can then pick up on it.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have to worry about the traitor much longer.”

——————————————————————

“Welcome back, class.”

Wow, Mrs. Aizawa looked like shit. Like, even worse than usual, almost canon-levels of Aizawaness. 

“Mornin’!”

Sato seemed pretty chipper today. Maybe he had more sugar than normal, if that’s how his quirk works.

“You sound a lot more dead inside than last time, Ms. Aizawa.”

I agreed with Denki. Again, she almost sounded canonical. 

“Morning, Sensei! Nope that feels weird.”

That was Iida. Looks like he gave acting like canon a try as well. 

“Before we get started, there is one announcement I need to go over. I am no longer sharing my body or memories with a second person. Which means that things are going to get back to normal in here”, Aizawa said in his signature blank voice as he did his trademark grin. 

“…Fuck. Is it too late to call in sick today?”

“And just like that, any chance this would be like university has ceased to exist…”

“I would rather be isekai’d again into Murder Drones…”

Didn’t these people care that S/Is weren’t permanent? I mean, either the missing isekai returned to their own world, or they died somehow. 

…I’m going to take a page from Ochako’s optimism and say it’s the first option for now. 

“Well, shit. Wait- Competence is back!”, Kaminari cheered and raised his hands, before seemingly remembering something and looking mortified. 

“No, Kaminari, I haven’t forgotten the sand.”

I haven’t forgotten the allergies either.

“Damn, wanted to get my revenge one day… it’s not the same, now.”

Midoriya attempted to keep the conversation from derailing like it somehow always does when the entire class full of people from another universe get together. 

“Well, welcome back Aizawa, I suppose.”

“Well, shit.”

…At least Iida was on the same page. 

“I have something I’d like to say too, Ms. Aizawa,” Ojiro raised his hand and stood up when given permission, “You have my deepest apologies if he did anything to offend or insult any of you over the past few weeks. I’m sorry.”

So Ojiro was normal again as well. 

Kaminari shook his head. 

“…Wait- who else is gone?”

“I am no longer a ‘SI’ as well.”

Shoji was normal too. That was fine with me, he was always the dependable type in canon.

“May I speak up, Kaminari?”

The lightning blonde turned towards them.

“Yes, Fallia?”

“… It’s not just 1A who lost an isekaiee. 1B’s Shiozaki Ibara no longer has her isekaiee within her…”

“That’s… four, so far? Shit.”

Shoji, Aizawa, Ojiro, and Shiozaki. Yes, that made four. However, it wasn’t until Kirishima spoke that everyone seemed to process the severity of what was happening.

Fallia gasped.

“W H A T!”

The rest of the class also began to mutter at the news. 

“Well, now I wonder what the criteria for losing your SI status is…”

I had to wonder if that was asked by canonical Midoriya. He seemed like the type to ask questions like that, but then again, I didn’t know much about his S/I either.

Kirishima shook his head.

“I spoke with Nedzu earlier this morning and he mentioned that he, as of yet, hasn’t found any particular cause.”

“Could it be something in your original world?” Ashido wondered out loud.

“I think it would be related to the stability of our soul, although I do not believe such beliefs…”

That was also a first to hear from Tokoyami’s mouth. He was really chuuni in canon.

“It would be real awkward if I went back. I died, after all.”

Yeah, Kaminari, and any others who died would just have to figure out what the afterlife was like the hard way.

“Imagine having died to end up here,” Bakugo said offhandedly as he smirked.

…serious topic here, dude. Franco, I think his name was?

“I'm glad some of us are managing to get out. I hope they managed to get home and not get stuck in either limbo or just die.”

“They don’t get home, Iida”, Fallia muttered somberly.

“How do you know that?”

“Shiozaki detailed to me how her isekaiee, Mitchell, ended up leaving. The two of them seemed to be in something like limbo or purgatory, for sure, and…then…he went off and was gone. Maybe Mitchell’s soul finally got…”

“Wait… does anyone know how the four of them reincarnated here?”

Again, this was why Kirishima was the leader. He asked the relevant questions.

“Never got to ask Mitc—I mean, Shiozaki- for the details…but she’s the ‘Haunted’ type, like me, Uraraka, and Midoriya.”

That was Fallia. Honestly, losing me would probably be beneficial overall, right? Maybe Ochako’s weight limit would go back to normal…

I remember Kaminari also mentioning that he has Denki in his head- he seemed really freaked out. 

Kirishima pressed on. Sometimes the leader had to be the bearer of bad news, after all.

“We know that amalgamated folks can disappear too- same with people who just had the original’s memory but not their personality.”

“This… may be bad…”, Midoriya worried.

“Oh, it’s terrifying, but no use in worrying about it at the moment. Not like we can do anything about it from this end, after all.”

Exactly. And who knows, maybe you do actually get back. Maybe it manifested differently for Ibara since she’s deeply religious, for all we know.

“I feel like the fact we can’t do anything about it makes it scarier.”

Well, you can’t do anything about a lot of stuff. A meteor could fall down and kill us all but we don’t worry about that.

“I mean, you could have a heart attack right now and die too. Best to keep living life how you want to live it.”

That worked too, I guess. No meteor for Kirishima today.

“…Fair enough. But I still have things to do, here. Dying again wouldn’t be great”, Kaminari argued.

“Eh, I’m willing to die to try and keep as many of you alive as possible- almost did it the other day.” 

Pony turned to Iida before sweeping her gaze across the entire class.

“Do all of you not want to go back?”

Kirishima shrugged.

“I died. Not much to go back to, at this point.”

There was a viewpoint that would be very common with those who had reincarnated here. So, any reincarnations were likely not the traitor. 

“I can’t speak for the others, but as much as I’m starting to slowly get used to it here, I’d honestly take the first opportunity to go back.”

That was about my view of the whole situation as well. It’s strange that I actually agreed with Bakugo of all people. 

“Like he said. I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to going back, but there's not really any way to do it. So we kinda have to accept this.”

I guess I agreed with Sato too. All For One could practically perform miracles, though. Maybe he could also bring us back. It was a dangerous thought, but I was trying to path out why the traitor did what they did, after all. No point worrying  about them, Nedzu hopefully had it.

Kaminari narrowly avoided a panic attack as he spoke.

“I feel like we need to calm down, right? There’s still other things we need to do and worry about.”

“Exactly. For example, you guys have another trial coming up: the U.A. Sports Festival is on the horizon, as I’m sure you’re no doubt aware.”

Aizawa did the teacherly thing and spoke about the festival! Yay!

Fallia said something that sounded like a sneeze, while everyone else rejoiced over a tournament arc.

“Well, at least I won’t break my bones in this world…”

Unless someone broke them for you, but let’s not go there. Midoriya was strong anyway, he’d probably place high.

“Exciting! Ooh, ooh, are the events going to be the same as in the manga?”

…Ashido was an S/I? Maybe I should collaborate more like Ochako always tells me to do, I’m missing so much information.

“As you all are aware, this is the time for you to show your abilities. All of Japan’s top pros are watching for new talent, and after the attack all eyes will be on you and Class B in particular.”

Right, there was the difference between that and the show. Glad we didn’t have a crazy rivalry between us and Class B anymore because of the difference in attention.

“I’m tempted to ask if I could pass, but everybody we’d need to worry about probably knows about what I could do anyways, might as well give the people a show.”

Kaminari said basically what I was thinking. I didn’t want to show off my quirk too much for safety, but since the League already had a target on all our backs, I might as well help out Ochako the best I can.

Speaking of Ochako, she was fired up. I could feel her excitement through our link, and it was even more than mine. 

“I’m more worried about if Hawks would take me in at all or be part of the ones who wanna intern me. I mean…no thank you, my dude. I’m sticking to the shadows and the investigative grind!”

Shadows, Hawks, you guessed right, Fallia was talking to themself again.

“But Kaminari, what about villains we haven't fought yet?”, Iida wondered.

Well, then they shouldn’t be too problematic. The League and the Army are the main threats. However, I didn’t want to rely on canon too much again.

“The principles are still the same as canon, Iida. Sure, we show off our quirks, but it tells people that We Are Here. We tell them that just because we got attacked doesn’t mean that we’ll hide away. Plus Ultra and all that.”

“What Kirishima said. Plus, we know about them as well. Unless a different card shows up the playing field is still in our favor for threats like the MLA or movie canon characters if they show up.”

Yep, Kirishima really sounded cool there. If our world was a story, he should totally be the MC.

“Someone new already showed up at the USJ. Jirou and I, plus Yui and Rin from 1-B, fought a villian who wasn't in canon.”

Right, right, not-Yuga.

Kaminari nodded and continued on with the explanation. 

“I heard about Dumas from Yui, Iida. I have an idea of who he might be. So he may not be a villain in canon but he could still be someone we know.”

“Wait, who’s Dumas?”

Just in case it wasn’t Aoyama. More information was good information.

“Doomus?”

“D-U-M-A-S. Dumas.”

Poor Pony has to deal with so many proper nouns while she’s learning Japanese. Wait, she also wasn’t an S/I anymore. Since she didn’t have instinctual Japanese. Would an S/I of Pony have instinctual Japanese?

“Named after… I think an author? Alexandre Dumas? Can’t remember what he wrote, though.”

The S/I side of Kirishima was really coming out. I doubt canonical Kirishima read pre-quirk literature. And it was Man in the Iron Mask from the Three Musketeers, not that it mattered.

Iida continued, “Dumas was some new villain with a buffed up version of Aoyama’s quirk plus something that made him tougher. His personality is way off from Aoyama’s but he was still french- he could be an Aoyama who went full evil, or is forced to be more active, or someone else entirely.”

“That sounds like Aoyama though…”

Yep, it really did. I have basically no doubt now that Dumas is an alias for Yuga Aoyama, so I don’t know why everyone is still arguing about it. I mean, there is a certain point where coincidences aren’t just coincidences anymore, you know?

With that, I zoned out through the class’s existential crisis about whether Aoyama was a villain now. 

 

“For fuck’s sake, guys, it’s a tournament arc! Please stop worrying and just have some fun.”

Fuck yeah, Sato. And I came to win. 

“Nuh uh.”

“Fuck you mean, Nuh Uh?!”

Fallia said that to mess with you, Sato. Stop taking the bait.

“Yeah maybe we should chill slightly, all this stress seems bad for our health…”

Yep. As evidenced by the freaking mandatory therapy session from Hound Dog, who was apparently licensed. Who knew?

“But what if villains attack the festival?”

Mineta sounded scared. He was probably worried that his waifus would get hurt or something. I sighed as that comment got me scolded by Ochako. 

“Why would they attack in such an obvious place? With all those heroes right there?”

The heroes were right there during the USJ thing too, but there wouldn’t be able to be a bait-and-switch this time. It’s not like we could just host the festival somewhere else. Well, we could. We probably won’t, since Kurogiri negates location changes.

“They didn’t attack in canon, either. It would be a pretty bad idea”, I point out.

“They didn’t attack Gym Gamma, and we all know how that turned out”, Sero argued.

Yeah but, one: given the police interviews I believe that even the traitor would settle down and lay low for a while, and two: I just want my tournament arc goddamnit.

“One word, or many: Informant. Traitor. Aoyama’s Canon Role. There is indeed…an impostor among us. Or a traitor; that works better.” 

Ok maybe Fallia was still a bit chuuni. Not in a bad way, just that no one says “an imposter among us” with such pizazz if they aren’t. 

“That's…five words”, Sato helpfully pointed out.

Did he count on his fingers? …Did he seriously need his fingers to count to five.

“Did you ignore the ‘or many’? Susmaryosep.”

Sato and Fallia argued as I tried to figure out how exactly that…Tagalog was pronounced.

“Regardless, the Festival is going to be taking place two weeks from Wednesday.”

“We have time, at least.”

Honestly, I agreed with Denki. We did have time, it wasn’t too bad a schedule to set.

“Zamn, though. Zamn.”

“‘Zamn’?”

…Fallia, you need to stop using two-hundred year old English slang translated to Japanese. That’s just bullying Pony.

“And don’t worry- we’ll be running you ragged during that time. We’ve lost two days of school, after all. We need to make up that time somehow.”

Oh no, Aizawa was happy. That meant bad things for us. 

No one seemed too happy about it, but everyone agreed that extra training was something we had to do. Both for the Sports Festival and to hopefully survive our next villain encounter. 

“Especially you, Midoriya. You need to really bulk up to use OFA to its fullest extent.”

Were Sato and Midoriya friends or something? That was oddly motivational.

“We got our eyes on you, Midoriya!”

Aww, Dark Shadow was kind of cute when it talked like that.

“I’m trying! I’ll keep training to increase the damned percentage.”

I hope so, Midoriya, because we do not have a good answer for Muscular right now. 

“Is this a good time-“

“Go ahead, Kirishima”, Mr. Aizawa nodded.

Kirishima stood up and jogged up to the front of the classroom. 

“So! Speaking of training! Me and a few other folks- Kyouka and Yaoyorozu among them, plus some 1-B kids and Tamaki Amajiki of the Big Three- came up with a bit of a plan to get some extra training in. We’ll be meeting in Gym Gamma after Heroics today if anyone wants to drop on by- should be a combo study/sparring group. We’d love to have you guys if you can make it!”

Everyone seemed pretty interested in the idea, though I can say I’m much more inclined towards practicing sparring than studying. I could do that fine on my own.

“Alright, that’s it from me. Back to you, Ms. Aizawa!”

Class Rep Kirishima jogged back to his seat. 

“Actually, a quick question for Aizawa. Do you want to go by Ms or Mr?”

“I don’t care. Call me whichever.”

Yeah, Aizawa didn’t seem like the type to care anyway about that stuff. 

“That’s all for today. Class is dismissed.”

While everyone else made their way toward the door, Kaminari calmly opened a window. I quickly left before I could get dragged into Aizawa’s suffering.

——————————————————————

Unsatisfactory. 

That was what ran through my mind over and over while I sprinted around one of the campus tracks, focused on plucking at the internal strings of my quirk. 

After the forest incident, it was clear that I had to develop Ochako’s quirk beyond what was canon for this period, and that I had to do it fast. The Hosu incident canonically only involved Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki, but with the villains showing that they weren’t playing around and a traitor on the loose inside U.A., feeding information to the likes of Shigaraki and even All For One, it was better to be safe than sorry again. Besides, even in the best case scenario, there was a Sports Festival rapidly approaching. I had to find a few ways to beat up my fellow kids.

“Ow…fu-frick.”

I fell over for what felt like the hundredth time today as I mistimed releasing my quirk and nearly twisted my ankle. I had gotten the idea from the forest incident, actually. When Ochako and I were making our way toward Tetsutetsu, she had told me how to time her quirk properly for stealth, taking advantage of Zero Gravity’s effects on gravity for near-silent footsteps. Now, I had gotten the idea to use a similar technique for speed. It could even be a super move if I could only get it right!

Not focused on the track, I fall again. And of course, someone else has to walk in on me, as I take a hand offered to me and get back up.

“Hello, Uraraka. Are you alright?”

Oh, it was Monoma again. I recognize that butter-blonde hair. It was nice of him to be worried about me, but I’ve literally been doing this for the past hour or so, so I’ve already lost track of the number of times I’d fallen.

“Eighteen,” Ochako helpfully supplied.

So, as anyone can see, it was nothing new at this point, and I told him as much.

“Yeah, no worries! I’m a bit used to it by now.”

I wasn’t sure if Monoma was disbelieving my claim or just concerned I was crazy. Maybe both.

“Uh huh… So you’re just exercising out here?”, he asked.

“Training, more like. Not going very well, as you can see.”

I mean, I hate exercise. What better way to get yourself to exercise than to add powers into the mix? Anyway, since Monoma was witness to this clusterfuck, I might as well actually talk to him.

“Yep, I can see that. What are you trying to do, exactly? If I may ask,” he says as he takes out a bottle of water from that bag of his.

I take the water as I explain, “Increase maneuverability with my quirk. I’m still not as experienced with it as I’d like. Also experimenting with timing it.”

I could see the wheels turning in Monoma’s head. “I see. What have you tried so far? With increasing maneuverability and all that.”

I obviously couldn’t tell him too much. One, our classes kind of have a friendly rivalry going on. Two, there’s the upcoming sports festival and we might face each other. Three, for all I know, he might be the traitor. Still, it would be even more suspicious to just not say anything.

“For faster vertical movements, I have a grappling hook I’ve also been getting used to. Now I’m just working on horizontal.”

“Maybe try just removing the gravity of your body but not your clothes and shoes and stuff? It’ll be enough weight to keep you grounded while decreasing strain and all that.”

Of course, given the nature of Copy, Monoma was probably one to go to regarding quirk analysis, especially considering the fact that Midoriya was a self-insert. I could probably still talk to canon Izuku, though. I might be remembering wrong, but I think his S/I has a similar relationship to me and Ochako.

For now, I was just relaying what Ochako thought as well. She was the one who had grown up with Zero Gravity.

“I never thought about whether stuff on me keeps its weight. Guess we’ll find out if removing my weight makes everything on me float.”

“Guess we will,” Neito replied noncommittally.

I focus, touching my own hand and working to keep the effects of the quirk on myself and myself only. For a moment, I almost think it worked, until I look down and realize I’m still barely floating, only a few inches above the ground.

Monoma seems confused as well. “Hmm. That didn’t work. So does your quirk actually remove just gravity or is it just a floating thing?”

I sigh, knowing I have no way of answering that question. I go silent for a moment, listening to the real Ochako’s explanation of her quirk. “Hang on, canon me says that it’s removing gravity but the mass of the object that gravity is removed of still matters.”

Neito apparently likes physics almost as much as I do. “That sounds… confusing. How does the mass affect anything if it’s not affected by gravity?”

“Things with mass still have inertia but not gravity.”

If someone thinks about it too hard, technically Zero Gravity kind of breaks relativity. In my world, this would all be theoretical, but it’s not here. Honestly, how has technology only developed to this extent? Especially with all these quirks…the scientific implications are actually really interesting to think about!

“I see”, Monoma speaks again as he stares at me, “How long are you going to leave yourself floating..?”

“Oh! Release! Whoops.”

Well. That was embarrassing. Neito, thank god, continues on as if nothing had happened.

“So how has your day been so far? Besides the training.”

“I’m…a bit tired. I didn’t exactly sleep well, so as you can see, I’m…out of it.”

As he can obviously see. You just…forgot you had your quirk active, Sam, normal people don’t do that.

“I also didn’t sleep well, but I’ve drank enough coffee to be almost functioning”, Monoma says as he rummages around in his bag before pulling out a can of coffee, “Want a can? If you don’t mind canned coffee.”

I had never had canned coffee before, but I certainly was in no shape to refuse. I had slept like…four hours last night, and I was definitely dead on my feet after training.

“I certainly do not mind canned coffee. Thank you, Mr. Pantry.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“ …You’re welcome.”

Now that I think about it, did I see him blush? Monoma blushed? Oh god, that was embarrassing for me as well.

“I’ve never seen canned coffee before. How do you use this thing?”

That’s right, I didn’t know coffee came in cans before today. So…I didn’t even know canned coffee was a thing before being isekaied into another universe. God, that was depressing.

“Have you had canned soda? It’s just that but coffee instead of soda. Twist the… thing up, the metal thing on the top.”

Now it was Monoma’s turn to be embarrassed on my behalf. God, I really was a child. 

“…I thought it was like a powder”, I admit as I finally figured out how to open the cap and drank a bit.”

“That’s instant coffee. The powder mix thing. It doesn’t taste very good.”

“Well, this is good, Mr. Pantry.”

He was getting more used to my stupid nicknames. This was good. 

“I guess it is? I just got it because it was the cheapest to be honest.”

“Oh yeah, are you canon or not? Take as much offense as you want but you seem too nice to be canon Monoma.”

It wasn't exactly the most delicate way to handle this, but fuck it, I needed info. 

“‘Canon Monoma’ had a grudge against 1-A for becoming more famous than 1-B in the USJ Attack, right? That didn’t happen here. Why would I have a similar grudge?”

“So no then? Not canon, got it. “

Just give me a straight answer, weatherboy. I still have suffering to get through.

“I suppose not? Since ‘canon’ doesn’t really exist anymore. I’m still me, just with extra memories that clearly aren’t mine. Like how… Uh. How do I refer to you and the canon Uraraka?”

I went with the version both of us agreed upon. 

“It’s me with control but she can communicate with me in my head.”

“I mean, like what do I call you both? You have the same name but are separate people.”

I shrug. It’s not like people refer to us separately much. For all intents and purposes we kind of function as the same body, so we’ve just been Uraraka. Still, I guess there was somewhat of a system.

“I’ve been working with her being Ochako and me being Uraraka.”

“I see. Did you have a different name before you… reincarnated?”

Not a reincarnation, but whatever. It can be used as a general catch-all for isekais, and I didn’t really care enough to correct him.

“Well, my real name is Sam. Samantha, if you want to get technical.”

“Nice name. Could I call you by a nickname maybe? You’ve been using one for me.”

I weighed my options. Screw it. 

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Hmm. How does Sako sound? It’s kind of just Sam and Ochako put together. It does have some meanings in Japanese if you spell it S-A-K-O.”

“For all I know you could totally be lying but I don’t care, Sako it is.”

“…What reason could I possibly have to lie about a nickname, Sako?”

That is my paranoia talking since canonical or not you’re still Monoma. And apparently an amalgamation.

“I meant about the meaning, and I don’t know, seems possible.”

“Uh huh. What do you think would happen if both of us used [Zero Gravity] on something and then only one of us released? Would it keep floating or would it fall?”

I thought about it. Maybe Monoma was into these thought experiments or whatever, I didn’t really care. 

“I think keep floating. Or maybe one of ours takes priority.”

“Want to test it?”

He gave me coffee for free. Why not.

“Sure. I’m done with the coffee you gave me, so we could use that.”

“Alrighty.” 

Monoma poked my arm to copy Zero Gravity while I activated my quirk and tapped the can, not letting go yet and letting him tap it as well. 

With that, I let go of the can, watching it float away slowly. 

“Should you release it or should I?”

“You can. I’m going to guess that I would override you.”

An experiment is no fun without a hypothesis, after all. 

“Release!”

The can continues to float, bobbing gently in the air. 

I press my fingers together. 

“Release.” 

I catch the can before it hits the ground. 

“Interesting results, I suppose. Not much application for this, I think.”

I shrug. Maybe more application than he thinks.

“Eh, we might fight in the Sports Festival.”

“We might. I just have to touch everything first to negate your releases?”

Was it that, or was it original over copy or any of the dozens of other possibilities that quirk physics could lead to?

“Is it a first come first served thing then?”

“Maybe. Wanna test?”, Monoma says as he picks up the can again.

Somehow, that was the thing that reminded me about my current procrastination. 

“Sorry, I should get back to training. Talking about the festival reminded me.”

“Hmm. Alrighty. Have a lovely day then.” 

Monoma once again put his fingers together and released the hold Zero Gravity had over the can. 

“Release!”

He pulls another pack of mochi out of his bag-seriously, where does he get this stuff-and sets it down before walking away.

“And this is why I call you a pantry”, I added a second part after Ochako asked me to, “Also thank you!”

I saw two thumbs up as Neito continued to walk away. 

“You’re welcome!”

——————————————————————

As I stood in a circle with everyone else who was a part of the mobility training group, all I could think of was that I was such a masochist when it came to this stuff. I mean, seriously, a training session right after training? 

We were to be playing a game of quirked tag with Mirio. I’m guessing he’ll mostly let us do our own thing after he tags one of us initially, because I’ve seen that canon moment where he fights what’s basically the whole class and wins in only a few minutes. 

Mirio said he would give us a few moments to create distance before he started chasing us. As he started counting down, the group erupted into chaos. I ran away before tapping into Zero Gravity to levitate myself to a higher spot. The quirk felt…pinker today than usual, which probably made no sense to anyone without a quirk. At least Ochako understood what I meant.

Anyways, the idea is that if I get tagged by Mirio, I can hopefully jump and tag someone else quickly. I am not deluded enough to where I think I can evade Mirio. He’s someone who most pros are jealous of, after all.

The others were quick too, and creative. No wonder we all chose mobility. For example, while Asui simply climbed to a higher spot with Frog and Sero used his tape to swing away, Ibara used her vibes as a springboard, Fallia used dark shadow to sling themself onto another platform, and Mineta made an improvised bouncy castle with his hair. Ashido ran away before using her acid to slide faster. I didn’t see Honenuki. He was probably hiding.

As the preparation time ran out, Mirio sank into the ground slightly before suddenly crashing into me. Now, I don’t really remember how exactly the experience was like, so let me paraphrase a little. Ow ow ow ow fuck!

I was mostly just relieved that I didn’t see Mirio without his clothes. I nearly crashed into Tsuyu before she clambered and leaped throughout the area to avoid me and create distance from the other players.

Luckily for me and unluckily for him, I crashed straight into Mineta. He was stunned for a bit, but he recovered quickly, going after Mina by throwing a few of his balls-that sounded wrong-at her to slow her down before tagging her. 

Mina dissolved Mineta’s b-Mineta’s projectiles-before making her way to Asui, who had luckily found a higher area to avoid being tagged yet again. 

Honenuki accidentally tripped Mina, which was technically a tag. I think him getting tagged was worth it, though, since he actually managed to surprise Mirio. No wonder he was a recommended student in canon. 

Even Mirio was shocked. I don’t think he was expecting any of us to go for him after the initial tag happened. 

After a messy exchange between Mineta, Fallia, and Ibara, somehow, Ibara got tagged. Still, she kept moving, detaching her hair to chase Sero, who tried to swing away with his tape. 

It looked like Shiozaki planned ahead, though, as she had created a wall with her vines that Sero crashed into. 

Sero winced as he removed a few thorns from Shiozaki’s quirk, then swung towards Fallia, managing to tag them. Fallia retaliated using Dark Shadow, tagging Sero back and tossing him away in one fell swoop. 

Fallia managed to tackle Mineta using Dark Shadow while Mineta was still bouncing around, managing to tag Sero again. 

Sero tried to tape down Mineta to tag him back, but only managed to tape Mina, who could easily dissolve the tape. The pink-haired girl then skated towards Honenuki who quickly retreated back into the ground, then towards Tsuyu who tried to jump away but was taped down by Sero.

I was so focused on the proceedings that I almost didn’t notice that Asui was now going after me. Thank goodness for being haunted, because Ochako was literally a second pair of eyes. With her help, I managed to tap Tsuyu midair and stop her before she could reach me.

She flailed around while I made sure to keep my distance. 

“Clever trick, kero.”

I grinned at the praise (even if it was still just my quirk) before running off, only releasing my quirk when I could be sure I was far enough away. 

What followed was a tagging frenzy. Asui tagged Mina, who ran towards Shiozaki, who used the flour on her clothes to keep Ashido away .

I could hear Mina all the way from my perch. “Ibara, I didn’t expect you to play dirty!”

Even blinded, Mina was still able to make Ibara slip, letting her pass on the tag yet again. 

Shiozaki then managed to pull Honenuki out of the ground enough so that he could be tagged. Unfortunately for Honenuki, his previous success at tagging Mirio was a one-and-done opportunity. Still, it really didn’t matter since he just tagged Fallia right after.

There was a mess of Dark Shadow, grapes, and softened ground in the final moments before Mirio called an end to the game. 

He clapped his hands, still looking as chipper as ever while the rest of us were exhausted. 

“That’s all for today, guys! Thanks for coming in, and great work- I could really see everyone improving! Good job!”

I was just getting ready to head home when Ashido ran up to me. It was a bit intimidating when you remember how social she was, but it turns out she just wanted my phone number. Phew. 

——————————————————————

Therapy was a bit intimidating, especially with Hound Dog. But, it was mandatory. And I hate breaking the rules. God, I was more nervous for this than I was for the police interview.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The room was clearly designed to calm patients down. The walls were white, while the room was filled with plushies, stress balls, and all sorts of fidget toys. 

“You’re Ochako Uraraka? It’s nice to meet you!”

I sat down in the beanbag facing him. He was one of the people I knew basically nothing about canonically, so it was always a bit…jarring, if that made sense.

“Nice to meet you too…sir?”

“Call me Hound, Dog, Hound Dog, or whatever you want, Uraraka! Whatever makes you most comfortable.”

…he was a lot nicer than I imagined.

“Ok…what is it that we should be talking about?”

I knew therapy was about open discussion, but I kind of needed a topic to bounce off of or we would be here forever.

“Well, to start, there’s one question I ask everyone who comes into my office. Why do you think that you’re here?”

I thought about it for a second. Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult question to answer.

“Well, I know some people got really hurt during the villain attack, and that doesn’t only mean physically…so it makes sense for the school to worry about us.”

“That is, of course, the correct answer. Now, I’m going to repeat: why do you, personally, think that you’re here?”

Oh, right. Therapist stuff.

“Being stranded in a foreign universe and recently being literally impaled in the hand.”

And I have no doubt some people here have gone through way worse. I mean, some people literally died before coming here. That has to be some trauma.

Hound Dog nodded.

“Both of those are definitely issues. How is your hand feeling, by the way? Any lingering pains?”

I shrug noncommittally. It wasn’t as if I had zero medical knowledge, so I was probably fine.

“I’m alright. Recovery Girl fixed everything. I mostly passed out due to shock, I think.”

“I see. You were with Tetsutetsu, correct?”

“Yes.”

On that topic, I’m glad he was ok. No way would I have been able to take everyone we fought on my own. 

“Have you talked to him at all since the attack?”

I thought about the time we ran into each other at lunch a day or two ago. He was actually a really good guy. Similar to Kirishima though neither of them want to admit it. The attack hadn’t shaken his spirits at all besides maybe make him want to train harder. 

“‘Of course I won, why wouldn't I be able to defeat yesterday’s me?’”, he had said.

“Yes, but we didn’t talk for very long.”

“That’s good to hear. Since the attack, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary in terms of how you’ve been feeling?”

Ah, that’s the rub, isn’t it? I wondered how much I’d say. In the end, to appease Ochako, I decided to be more honest.  

“I’ve been like…extra aware? It kind of makes it harder to sleep.”

“I see. I have a few breathing exercises that may help, if you’d like to try them?”

I guess so. Breathing exercises were pretty old hat to me by this point, but they could still be fun.

“Okay. I was diagnosed with anxiety in my old world, so that could help.”

“Have you ever heard of box breathing?”

“I’ve heard of the name?”

And probably tried it like once and forgot about it. I tend to do that often with these mental health treatments that aren’t just pills.

“The idea is that it’s a “box”; that is, four sides of equal length. First, you breathe in for four seconds, then you hold your breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for another four seconds, and repeat.”

“Mhm, that makes sense. I wouldn’t mind trying it.”

“Let’s do that real quick, then.”

Right. Breathe in, one, two, three, four. Hold, one, two, three, four. Breathe out, one, two, three, four. Hold, one, two, three, four.

The holds might have been a bit uncomfortable for a normal person, but I had done something like this before in choir, so it wasn’t too bad.

“Do you think that helped?”

“It calmed me down in the present.”

I don’t know how well it can work against the fact that I sometimes think I see Kurogiri’s dark portals and startle awake, but…

“That’s all we can hope for. Try and practice that technique if you some help calming down before bedtime, okay? I’d also recommend steering clear of screens up to a hour before going to sleep and maybe putting on some white noise- both of those help me.”

Hound Dog was right. That was all we could hope for. If it could help me relax even a little…

“The white noise thing sounds helpful. I’ll try those suggestions. Thank you, Mr. Hound Dog.”

I had used brown noise to sleep sometimes in my old world as well. I wouldn’t mind going back to that. 

“Let me know if either of them don’t work for you and we can try to work something out; and, if you want to speak with me again, my door is always open.”

“Alright, thank you. I will try to let you know ahead of time, though.”

It’s just the polite thing to do, and I didn’t want to walk in on someone else. 

“Now, before I let you go, is there anything else you wanted to talk about today?”

“Not in particular.” 

Plus, I had more training to get to. 

“Then I’m okay letting you go here. Have a great day, Uraraka, and stop by if you ever need anything else or if you just want to say hi.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hound Dog!”

I waved and hurried out the door.

——————————————————————

I was leaving school just like normal-it’s funny I can call this life normal-when I saw someone I never expected to see. I mean, I should have expected it, he’s real in this world. My feet carried me towards him automatically despite my social ineptitude. 

“This is going to sound kind of weird, so sorry, but I want to rotate you like a microwave. Well, technically, the microwave does the rotating…”

…Oh my god I really just said that, didn’t I? Apparently Shihai thought the same as he looked at me very funnily, almost like I just lost a head, or grew a new one. 

“I’m cutting you off there, what?”

Technically I wasn’t even cut off by Shihai, but by the real Ochako herself. She was…too speechless, so it was hard for me to continue speaking. 

Ah, apologizing would probably be a good idea. Explaining too, since he’s canonical as far as I know. 

“Sorry, sorry. You know the whole S/I thing? You’re one of my…favorite characters? So I kind of forgot how to socialize.”

I…think he blushed? It’s hard to tell with Kuroiro for obvious reasons, you know.

“O-oh! Umm… Thanks? A-are you part of class 1-A? I-I think I saw you at Kirishima’s training sessions…?”

I nod, continuing on with introductions.

“Oh, yeah. I’m Ochako Uraraka, probably should have introduced myself before saying I wanted to spin you right round right round.”

Kuroiro smiled, his teeth a sharp contrast against his black skin. 

“Well, Uraraka, I am ever so glad that you find me to be entertaining. What ephemeral force compels you to such questionable actions?”

First, I had to apologize to Ochako. I was using her body for being cringe, after all. “Dear Ochako I'm so sorry I’m using your body for this,” I thought really hard. There. Then, I responded to Shihai.

“Well, when you don’t go outside besides school in your old world you don’t really learn how to talk to people. Also I genuinely find you really cool. So there’s that?”

“O-oh. Well, if you find the darkness to be your calling, then let the abyss consume you until there’s nothing left!”, Vantablack announced as he did a really cool pose. 

Holy shit…that’s so based. I couldn’t help but whisper to Ochako.

“That is so peak…”

“Well, I must be off. The darkness may never be in your favor, so either strive to overcome it or let it consume you.”

He was leaving already? I have no idea if he enjoyed interacting with me or anything. I hope I didn’t creep him out too much with my big mouth. It was just really cool meeting him, and I voiced my thought.

“See you! It was nice meeting you!”

Chapter 8: Felicitous

Summary:

The UA Sports Festival is in full swing as machinations swirl in the background.

I sit by myself, trying to seem casual to the others while acting as the messenger between the real Ochako and her parents. They had agreed to watch the games, which I know means a lot to her. After all, they couldn’t take time off their work due to the family’s income, but the two promised that they would watch Ochako-or, well, me-compete from the TVs at work. I was just getting relaxed when Kirishima stood up.

“Ten minutes till we head on out there, folks! Get your stuff together and get your head in the game- it’s just about time!”

Kaminari weakly cheered. 

“Yay…”

“Right, of course! We can do this!”

I had never heard Midoriya sound so unsure before. He sounded like he was just trying to hype himself up.

Well, time to hype everyone up for real!

“Yeah! Let’s do this! I’m so hyped…”

“Heh! I’m so gonna beat all of you!”

At least it worked with Mineta.

“Ok everyone, let's try and stay safe, don't push yourself so hard you break your own bones and all that. Recovery Girl is already going to be busy this week.” “Don’t worry, I won’t break anything… I hope.”

I’m glad that Iida and Midoriya are worried about our safety, at least. And right! Midoriya won’t break his own bones this time. He has more control over his quirk now!

Fallia chuckles nervously.

“Sure, I suppose.”

Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, dude. At least Kirishima was still pumped.

“We’ve all got this! I’ve seen most of you working in the training group, and for those who I haven’t, I know you’ve been working hard. Let’s get out there, show them what we’re made of, and have some fun!”

The rest of the class seemed pretty excited as well. Even Yaoyorozu seemed happy.

“Most of you are probably already aware of the significance of this event. Therefore, take what you already know and combine it with what you’ve learnt in your time here. Show your very best and don’t be afraid to enjoy yourself in doing so!”

Kirishima turned to Yaoyorozu. “Speaking of! Yaoyorozu.”

Oh god, it was this rival bs again. Even a blind and deaf person could have noticed.

“Objectively speaking, I’m stronger than you. More capable.”

Excuse me, what- at least Yaoyorozu also seemed upset. “… I beg your pardon-”

The rest of the class had about the same reaction. Which was something along the lines of “what the actual fuck.”

Undeterred, Kirishima continued with his villain monologue.

“All Might’s got his eye on you, doesn’t he? Now, I’m not about to pry into why that is, but… I will beat you.”

Wait, Momo wasn't being mentored by All Might as far as I know...oh god. I know what this was.

“… James..?”

It was out of character for him, definitely. But then, Kirishima clapped his hands and spun around, almost swapping personalities with how drastic the change was

“Alright, folks, like six minutes left! Get your stretching in, get your last minute wiggles out- and let’s get out there and win!”

Right on cue, we heard Ectoplasm through the door.

“Five minutes left, Class 1-A.”

“Fuckin… it’s way too early for any of this…”

Well, Sato didn’t seem happy.

“Woo! Alright, folks, bring it in- hands in the middle!”

This was stupid. But I guess peer pressure works.

“Yeah!” Izuku put in his hand.

“Let us throw hands sooner or later.” So did Fallia.

“I-I’m gonna win. I’m so gonna win!” Even Mineta did?

“Alright, folks: let’s show them what class 1-A is made of! Like I said, you all got this- let’s make our teachers proud and show the LOV they aren’t keeping us down!”

“The League think they know what they’re up against, but we’ll show them why they shouldn’t fuck with us”, Bakugo smirked.

“Exactly! Let’s all do our best to push ourselves higher, further, faster!” Kirishima grinned. “To bring ourselves to new heights and challenge each other!”, Midoriya chimes in.

“To work together and have some fun!”, Ashido cheered.

The rest of the class all chime into this Team Rocket-esque cult ritual we have going on.

“To showcase what we’ve been learning!”

“To demonstrate our skills and everything that we are.”

“To show that we aren’t our past.”

After a few more of the class make their statements, it’s my turn. But I let Ochako come up with the words.

“To compete and do our best to win!”

“To prove that we aren’t playing around in the dark of innocence and the blurry past. To show the LOV we’re no longer playing nice if we encounter them again!

Aha, Dark Shadow is so cute. I love them.

“To do our best.”

“To show that we all deserve to be here, the same as anyone else.”

“… To prove our worth.”

God, how long was this going to go on for? Thank god Kirishima was right there to end it.

“That’s the spirit, everyone! 1-A on three- 1, 2, 3!”

We all cheer.

“1-A!”

Ectoplasm opened the door.  “Time to get moving, 1-A.”

Kirishima held up his hand and started heading towards the exit, beckoning us to follow.

“C’mon, folks, let’s scootch and boogie- honor and glory await!”

I quickly follow him as we make our way outside, conversing mentally with Uraraka.

“Let’s…beat the shit out of everyone, Ochako.”

“...I was going to say do our best.”

 

“PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT’S TIME TO GET ROCKIN’ ONCE AGAIN WITH U.A.’S FIRST YEARS SPORTS FESTIVAL!!!!!”

The crowd roared. Yeah, I was probably going to have to get used to this sooner or later.

”I’M YOUR HOST, AS ALWAYS, PRESENT MIC! JOINING ME IN OUR BOOTH TODAY WE’VE GOT MY GOOD FRIEND ERASERHEAD-“

“-why did I sign up for this.”

Well, he sure seemed enthusiastic.

“AND HIS GOOD FRIEND, THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE COMEDIC QUEEN, MISSUS JOKE!” 

“Pleasure to be here, Mic!”

With those three commentating? This was shaping up to look like a rerun of a Friends episode. 

“BUT YOU’RE NOT HERE FOR OUR STUNNING WIT- YOU’RE HERE FOR THE ACTION! TO KICK OFF OUR COMPETITORS, FIRST ON THE STAGE AND SURVIVING A VILLAIN ATTACK IN THEIR FIRST WEEK OF HERO SCHOOL, GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FIRST YEAR HERO STUDENTS: CLASS 1-A AND CLASS 1-B!!!”

We emerge from the tunnel, drinking in the roar of the crowd in our ears. This was it. This was our day. 

”FOLLOWING THEM UP AND PLANNING ON SHOWING THEM UP, IT’S OUR GENERAL EDUCATION COURSE! START CLAPPING FOR CLASSES 1-C, 1-D, AND 1-E!”

There was less clapping, but there was still a decent amount. Thank god these kids had parents.

”AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, OUR TINKERS AND CREATORS! GIVE IT UP FOR SUPPORT STUDENTS IN CLASS 1-F, 1-G, AND 1-H!”

These kids could be an unexpected threat. They were allowed their gadgets, after all.

“AND DOING WHAT THEY DO BEST IN THE STANDS, GIVE IT UP FOR THE BUSINESS COURSE!”

Right, the business course used the festival as a test of sorts. Selling merch and food, I think?

”NOW, HERE TO REFEREE, PLEASE WELCOME THE WONDERFUL ECTOPLASM! TAKE IT AWAY, MY GHOULISH FRIEND!”

He was refereeing? Not Midnight? This could just be one of Nedzu’s whims, but…was Midnight an S/I?

“For the Athlete’s Oath, can Katsuki Bakugo of Class 1-A please come to the stage?”

Now, I’m an atheist, but excuse me while I “pray.” Thank god he’s not canon, thank god he’s not canon…oh! He’s starting.

“Before I begin, I feel like the censors should be prepared in case anything unscripted ends up happening during this *bleep*.”

I could see Bakugo look up at someone. Probably Mic or Aizawa. One of the box people. 

“Test done? Great. Now that I have your attention… 

Everyone by now should know about the attack against UA, and us hero course students a few weeks ago. I’m not gonna talk too much about it, because I’m sure most of you already know what happened, but there is one thing in particular that I wanted to say.

To those of you that claim we were lucky to have even been involved in a villain attack this early on, no we *bleep*ing weren’t. We weren’t even a week into the school year and we’ve already now been thrusted into a spotlight that I know a few of us would’ve rather avoided.

But there is one message I have. To those villains, who I know are watching this… We know you’re coming. And it doesn’t matter what you decide to throw at us, we’ll be ready.”

So, let’s all show them what they’re up against!”

The crowd cheers as Bakugo pauses, smiling.

“And if you’re ever struggling or think you’re by yourself in this, there’s an old quote I know…You’ll never walk alone.”

With that, Bakugo left the stage, humming some random ditty.

“AMAZING SPEECH! NOW, ECTOPLASM, WHAT WILL OUR FIRST COMPETITION BE?”

Looks like it was back to Mic’s programming for now. 

“King of the Hill.”

“AMAZING! YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN, MS. JOKE?”

“I’d love to, Mic! For this event, Cementoss is going to raise a big pillar in the middle of the stage- with ten platforms. Each platform is worth a certain number of points at the end of the match- as long as you were the first one on it! But be careful, because each platform can only hold a certain number of students.”

Aizawa sighs as he picks up where Joke left off. “The top platform is worth the most points and can hold one student. The second platform can hold three students, the third platform five students, the fourth platform six students, the fifth platform seven students, the sixth platform ten students, and the seventh platform twelve students.”

 

I watch the silly little infographic, mentally taking notes on a possible strategy for this round. With my quirk, it was probably going to be making it as high as possible before dropping down as necessary. 

“EXACTLY RIGHT, ERASERHEAD! NOW, WITH ALL THAT IN MIND, LET’S CLEAR THE FIELD SO CEMENTOSS CAN WORK HIS MAGIC!”

Everyone exits the field to give Cementoss more space to utilize his quirk. It really was pretty powerful. In a real fight, he could reshape the environment, especially in urban areas, to be advantageous to his teammates.

“OKAY, EVERYONE, LET’S GET ROCKING! STUDENTS, RETURN TO THE FIELD!”

We all trudge back obediently.

“EVERYONE, AT YOUR FEET IS A MARKER CORRESPONDING TO YOUR CLASS AND YOUR STUDENT NUMBER. TAKE YOUR POSITIONS, PLEASE!”

Ok, ok, student number…aha! Found it~ Jeez, these pillars are kind of high, huh? Thank goodness for your quirk, Chako. I brace myself, waiting for a cue from Mic to start running.

 

“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, LET’S GET READY TO RUUUUUUMBLE! GET READY…! GET SET! GOOOOOOOOO!” 

After the initial mad dash, most students slowed down as they figured out that, no, getting up seven feet of concrete over and over again was not as easy as expected. With my quirk, though, I could do my best to get high up. Floor one was definitely out of the question, and floor two was probably going to be filled with those who wanted to go for one but realized they couldn’t take the likes of Todoroki or Bakugo. So, I had scraped together something that seemed like a plan. I would head up to floor three and scope out the general scenario. I probably wouldn’t be able to stay up there very long, but I could get a look at everything. Still, this place was kind of crowded…especially with people with good crowd control like Shiozaki around.

“…maybe I should just drop down. Too many people.”

“Oh hey, you're here too. I think we got a bad floor here, huh..wait do you see that?”

Who was that? They weren’t attacking me. I turned to the side to look, and…oh, hey Iida.

“The fortress? Yeah.”

Shiozaki had good control over her vines. That definitely looked pretty recognizable as a fortress.

“Nah, it looks like they are doing something over there, want to try and make a run to the next floor together?”

Like, run? Literally? Well, I guess it is Iida, but…

“I feel like that could end pretty badly…”

Iida seemed unfazed as he casually kicked some random general education student off the platform. 

“What, you think we're gonna get knocked off this platform together and fall, again?”

Don’t freaking jinx us, Iida…woah! A few horns are sent at us before suddenly reversing, almost like boomerangs. Pony’s here. Before that, though…the ground began to shake. It reminded me of Yo Shindo’s vibration quirk, but he wasn’t here. That was all Shiozaki, who was currently using her vines to make some kind of…tsunami-thing?

“I stand corrected, we better take her down first then run.”

Take who down, Iida? Pony? Shiozaki? And since when were we a team?

Too late for that now, as Tsunotori landed on the ground and started using her horns to great effect. Iida was running and kicking at the horns while making his way towards her to knock her off.

“Lots of missiles coming from her but they are easy to dodge right now and predictable at lea- FUUUCCCCKK!”

He tripped on a hidden vine from Shiozaki and teetered towards the edge of the platform himself. I barely registered that Pony had course-corrected two of the most recent horns to shove Iida off before I was being brought down with him.

“Ah! Ow!”

I could see Pony grinning down at us.

“Strike!”

“I feel like we've been here before, hope this doesn't become a thing between us.”

Oh, right, the heroes vs villains practice. Hey, at least we didn’t get broken glass all over us this time.

“Yeah! This kind of reminds me of Spy Kids 2.”

Specifically, that part where Carmen and Judi are falling down into a volcano to find the villain’s secret hideout. How long are we falling and all that? Before I could get into the details of that scene and Spy Kids 2 in general, Ochako kindly reminded me that we are currently falling down about two or so platforms and that I should probably do something about it.

“Looks like our stop is up ahead, good luck the rest of this, hope we meet in the finals.”

Thanks, Iida. I believe you’ll make it to round three.

“Yeah, see you later.”

Luckily, I managed to avoid falling two floors and splatting onto cement. Since Zero Gravity also gave me lots of downwards momentum that I had to cancel out when Pony blasted us, I “reset” the quirk by quickly releasing and re-tapping myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite manage to do everything in time. 

“Not dead, that’s great. Still…ow.”

“Are you ok? That fall looks like it hurt.”

“Yeah…yeah, Ochako, I’m fine.”

 

Surprisingly, I was actually fine. Actually having anime durability is insane. I managed to stand up and take in my surroundings. This must be…floor five? Who else was here? Oh. Oh, nevermind. This floor was already basically full, and I did not want to be eliminated round one for a stupid reason. Down we went, and I hopped over the edge before any of the floor’s occupants decided to come up and…stab me, or something.

I pant slightly as I tap my fingers together to release my quirk. I had to thank not being canon or else I would probably be throwing up. Even though the lowered weight limit could be annoying, right now I am gladly taking advantage of my quirk endurance. Who else was on this floor? 

“Jeez, so crowded again…woah!”

I manage to somehow instinctively dodge a volley of scales shot at me. Hey, wasn’t there a guy from Class B that could do that? 

“You got some pretty good reflexes”, the boy grinned.

“Thank you!”

There’s a bit of an awkward pause as Rin (I remembered his name now) waits for me to keep talking. Then he gets back on the offensive, shooting his scales in a similar rhythm to a semi-automatic. I do my best to dodge his unrelenting attacks.

Still, why was Rin trying so hard? 

“There’s…seven or so people on this floor! That’s less than ten!”, I yell at him as I keep running straight to be a step ahead of his shots.

“Other people can still drop down, you know. 不要过早乐观.”

That’s fair. Also, he probably does want to show off a little for the pros. But so did I. I knew I couldn’t dodge forever, at least not with the same method. There just wasn’t enough space. So, I rushed directly at Rin. I could feel myself taking a few hits from his scales, but this was all about forcing him to switch to his more close-ranged style.

“Too close!” 

Rin swiped at my eyes with his newly reptilian hand. Before I registered what was happening, I had blinked and he backed away some more, getting back the ranged advantage.

“Stop running!” I didn’t really want to use my quirk considering the potential risks, but I still tapped myself quickly to jump and released before attempting to kick Rin. This wouldn’t make him float, but this would at least stop him for a little.

He switched back to close combat mode, bracing against the attack with his arms that were now covered in scales before suddenly making a swiping motion. I didn’t register what he was doing until it was too late. 

“Ah!” I fall over, being knocked off balance by the sudden movement. As Rin advanced towards me, I was on guard for a good moment to tag him and turn the tables, but there was no need.

“AND THAT’S TIME! PUT THOSE QUIRKS DOWN, FOLKS, AND WELL DONE TO ALL OF OUR CONTESTANTS- WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK ONCE WE’VE TABULATED THE RESULTS!”

Even though Present Mic’s announcer voice could be very grating, at that moment, there was nothing else I’d want to hear. God, I was tired. Rin didn’t look too chipper either.

“Don’t touch those dials, folks!”

Oh, that was Ms. Joke. I followed everyone else down the tower, still having to use my quirk a little even though Cementoss was slowly lowering it back into the ground. Thank god I wasn’t canon Ochako, or else I might have actually thrown up. Having heard it from Ochako herself, quirk overuse was a bitch.

 

The announcements paused for a moment. It took a while to get everyone back on even ground, especially the students who had made it to higher floors. 

“AND WE ARE BACK! CONGRATULATIONS, EVERYONE, ON A ROCKING ROUND ONE! AS A REMINDER, ONLY FORTY FOUR PEOPLE ARE MOVING ON FROM THIS ROUND, BUT EVERYONE SHOWED FIERCE COMPETITION ON THE FIELD TODAY! GREAT JOB, STUDENTS!”

I winced at the sudden Mic jumpscare as the crowd cheered. It was kind of annoying that I didn’t place higher, but oh well. I would still move forward.

“TO START US OFF WITH OUR PROGRESSING COMPETITORS, ON THE SEVENTH FLOOR, COMING IN WITH TEN POINTS EACH: FROM CLASS A, IT’S MINA ASHIDO, TENYA IIDA, MASHIRAO OJIRO, KOJI KODA, AND MEZO SHOJI!”

So Iida had also made it. Hey, hey. Maybe we would see each other in the finals. Round three is in a flat arena, right? No places to fall together from.

“FROM CLASS B, IT’S KINOKO KOMORI, TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU, SETSUNA TOKAGE, AND REIKO AND EMILY YANAGI!”

Ooh, Tetsutetsu? I hadn’t talked to him much since after the forest incident. Yes, I will later, Ochako. Don’t be mad at me.

“FROM CLASS C, IT’S FUMIKO OGASAWARA AND BASHIRO MAKIMA!”

I was glad that the crowd actually cheered now. It was kind of awkward when Class C got like, nothing during the opening.

“AND FROM CLASS H, IT’S MAINA FURASU!”

Support girl. Probably less annoying than Hatsume. Noted.

“THAT’S RIGHT! GIVE IT UP FOR OUR SEVENTH FLOOR WINNERS!”

“NOW, FOR THE SIXTH FLOOR, COMING IN WITH TWENTY POINTS EACH! FROM CLASS A, IT’S PONY TSUNOTORI, OCHAKO URARAKA, HANTA SERO, HITOSHI SHINSO, TOORU HAGAKURE, AND MINORU MINETA!”

Wow, there were a lot of people on this floor. And I still forget Shinso is in Class A sometimes.

“FROM CLASS B, IT’S YUI KODAI, NIRENGENKI SHODA, SHOTO TODOROKI, AND HIRYU RIN!”

…Todoroki as well. 

“GIVE IT UP FOR OUR SIXTH FLOOR WINNERS!”

No one from general or support this time, huh? That meant Hatsume placed higher. I don’t think she’s the type to get eliminated in round one.

“ON THE FIFTH FLOOR, COMING IN WITH THIRTY POINTS EACH! FROM CLASS A, IT’S TSUYU ASUI AND RIKIDO SATO!”

“FROM CLASS B, IT’S SEN KAIBARA, ITSUKA KENDO, JUROTA SHISHIDA, KOSEI TSUBURABA, AND KOJIRO BONDO!”

“GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FIFTH FLOOR WINNERS!”

The crowd’s cheers had somehow not died down. God, it really was like the Olympics. Boundless energy. Did they all take stimulants earlier?

“ON THE FOURTH FLOOR, WITH FORTY POINTS EACH! FROM CLASS A, IT’S DENKI KAMINARI, KYOUKA JIROU, FALLIA TOKOYAMI, AND IZUKU MIDORIYA!”

I thought Tokoyami and Midoriya would have placed higher…I’m surprised.

“FROM CLASS B, IT’S IBARA SHIOZAKI!”

Ibara tossed her hair back as the crowd cheered. Pff, natural.

“AND FROM CLASS H, IT’S MEI HATSUME!”

There was a surprising amount of cheering for this one. Maybe it was because she wasn’t in the hero course, so everyone and their mothers who got out round one is happy.

“GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FOURTH FLOOR WINNERS!”

“ON THE THIRD FLOOR, WITH FIFTY POINTS EACH! FROM CLASS B, IT’S YOSETSU AWASE, SHIHAI KUROIRO, MANGA FUKIDASHI, JUZO HONENUKI, AND NEITO NADO-HUNT!”

“GIVE IT UP FOR OUR THIRD FLOOR WINNERS!”

I was being way too ambitious gunning for floor three. Awase, Kuroiro, and Honenuki could just…stay there for free, anyway, so there weren’t many available spots in the first place.

“ON THE SECOND FLOOR, WITH SIXTY POINTS EACH! FROM CLASS A, IT’S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA AND MOMO YAOYOROZU! AND FROM CLASS B, IT’S TOGARU KAMAKIRI!”

“GIVE IT UP FOR OUR SECOND FLOOR WINNERS!”

I could see Kirishima pumping his fist. Those were our class reps, alright. And as for the top floor, there was one notable name that hadn’t been mentioned yet...

“AND ON THE TOP FLOOR, SCORING ONE HUNDRED POINTS, I’M PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THE FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL’S FIRST ROUND: KATSUKI BAKUGO!”

The crowd went wild. I let myself cheer a bit too. I mean, Franco was doing the All Might Kamino pose. That was…really cheesy but also kind of cool.

“AND ONCE AGAIN, ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR ALL OF OUR COMPETITORS! FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T MOVE ON, DON’T WORRY; WE’LL HAVE PLENTY OF WAYS FOR YOU TO STRUT YOUR STUFF LATER ON!”

I laugh to myself, thinking suddenly of a funny youtube clip from my original world.

“NOW, LET’S CLEAR THE FIELD AND GIVE CEMENTOSS THE SPACE HE NEEDS TO FINISH PACKING UP THIS PILLAR; ROUND TWO WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN TEN MINUTES, LISTENERS!”

For what felt like the hundredth time, the crowd cheered. God, I was going to have to get used to this noise, wasn’t I?

I zoned out rather than listen to the sitcom antics of Aizawa, Ms. Joke, and Mic. 

 

"YOU HEARD THE MAN! STUDENTS, YOU'VE GOT TEN MINUTES TO FORM TEAMS OF FOUR- GOOD LUCK!"

Teams of four, huh? I’ll try and form a team with someone who synergizes well with me. Someone who could create effective distractions, maybe? But as I was thinking about who I should try and reach out to, Kirishima of all people called out to me instead.

“Uraraka! You have a team yet?”

I wouldn’t mind joining up with Kirishima. Even though there was that weird bit with Momo earlier.

“No, not yet. You want me to join you?”

“Hell yeah! Just leaves us with one more…”

Kendo casually walks over.

“You’ve got room for me?”

Kirishima and Kendo go through their “totally not crushing on each other” schtick before we actually start developing a rough plan for the contest.

“Exactly. Right, so I’m thinking me and Itsuka take on the bots, Uraraka, Reiko, Emily- the three of you focus on rescuing?”

Oh no, I’m about to nerd out.

“Yep! So you can be the main dps, Kendo’s the sub-dps, I’m the flex support, and Yanagi’s the main support?”

“Not quite. Reiko, Emily, elucidate us: what’s the limitation on your quirk?”

…elucidate? Huh?

“Weight. We can only manipulate up to roughly the average weight of a person.”

Yeah, I see where this is going.

Kirishima snapped his fingers. “Exactly! Key wording: weight . Uraraka, remind us what your quirk is?”

I deadpan, not wanting to play along with the stage magician showmanship.

“Oh. So you want me to use my quirk to indirectly boost Yanagi’s? Since I have Zero Gravity?”

That didn’t stop Kirishima, though. He spread his arms dramatically. “Not just boost! Completely overhaul! Pun not intended, fuck Chisaki.”

I was still disappointed I couldn’t use this event to talk about a game made like two hundred years ago. “Sounds good. Wow, we decided everything fast. And here I was trying to make a gamer squad reference.”

“Hey, that’s what happens when you put me in planning!”

Speaking of planning, I wonder what Momo’s group is doing. She’s capable and has a rivalry with Kirishima.

“Slow down there. What exactly is the plan? Like, you said to use Zero Gravity and Poltergeist together, but how?”

How did Kendo not figure it out? Ah well, I’ll give her some grace, she doesn’t have either of our quirks.

“Like I said, you and me on taking the bots off Reiko and Uraraka. Reiko, Emily, can you lift Uraraka?”

Reiko gestures at me. “May we?”

“Of course. Fun to be on the other end of things for a change.” 

I let out a quiet “weeeee!” as Reiko lifts me off the ground and gently spins me before setting me back down. That was fun. I’m totally going to get them to do it more often. 

The speaker on Reiko crackles. “Should be good!”

Reiko herself agrees. “Indeed.”

“Right, then Uraraka, we’ll get Reiko and Emily to throw you around and tag hostages, then they can float them all out to safety. Itsuka and I will keep the robots off you guys and the hostages safe, and yeah! Any questions?”

Kendo shook her head, and I was ok with it as well.

“No questions, sounds good.”

“Might I presume that my responsibility will be avoiding robots while Emily uses Poltergeist?”

I have no idea how that works, between Reiko and Emily, but, hey, as long as it works.

Kirishima seemed to have the same idea.

“However you guys want to split that up- don’t want to wreck your workflow.

“Then I have no further inquiries.”

The speaker, or, Emily, I guess, spoke again. “None over here!”

"AND WE'RE BACK, EVERYONE!"

Wow, that was really-

“Good timing, then. Let’s see what they’ve got for us.”

How did Kirishima interrupt my mental freaking train of thought? Whatever, whatever. Focus on the event. Or, I guess, more of the boring sitcom jokes between the commentators.

"It's a classic!"

"NO TIME FOR YOUR MARITAL BICKERING, YOU TWO-"

 "We're not married."

"WE'VE GOT A SPORTS FESTIVAL TO RUN! DO WE HAVE OUR TEAMS, ECTOPLASM?"

I’m assuming Ectoplasm gives some form of acknowledgement, as Present Mic continues speaking.

"THEN LET'S START ANNOUNCING OUR LOVELY CONTESTANTS!

"FIRST UP WE'VE GOT THE WINNER FROM LAST ROUND AND HIS TEAM MATES- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM BAKUGO- CONSISTING OF KATSUKI BAKUGO, KYOUKA JIROU, MEI HATSUME, AND IZUKU MIDORIYA!

NEXT UP, WE'VE GOT THREE QUARTERS OF THE RECOMMENDATION STUDENTS- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM YAOYOROZU, CONSISTING OF MOMO YAOYOROZU, SHOTO TODOROKI, HITOSHI SHINSO, AND SETSUNA TOKAGE!"

THIRD OF ALL WE'VE GOT A CLOSE QUARTERS AND RANGED TEAM- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM KIRISHIMA, CONSISTING OF EIJIRO KIRISHIMA, ITSUKA KENDO, OCHAKO URARAKA, REIKO YANAGI, AND EMILY YANAGI!”

I notice Kirishima quietly pump his fist. He must be pretty excited. 

"LOOK OUT FOR OUR FOURTH TEAM- THEY'RE LEAN, MEAN, AND/OR GREEN! GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM SHIOZAKI, CONSISTING OF IBARA SHIOZAKI, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI, TSUYU ASUI, AND TENYA IIDA!"

WE'VE GOT SOME STICKY BUSINESS FOR OUR FIFTH TEAM- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM HONENUKI, CONSISTING OF JUZO HONENUKI, YOSETSU AWASE, HANTA SERO, AND HIRYU RIN!"

OUR SIXTH TEAM IS HERE TO TAKE NAMES AND HAVE FUN- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM BONDO, CONSISTING OF KOJIRO BONDO, NIRENGENKI SHODA, TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU, AND MINA ASHIDO!"

THEY'VE GOT BRAINS, THEY'VE GOT BRAWN, THEY'VE GOT IT ALL- FOR OUR SEVENTH TEAM, GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM KUROIRO, CONSISTING OF SHIHAI KUROIRO, RIKIDO SATO, KOSEI TSUBURABA, AND SEN KAIBARA!

OUR EIGHTH TEAM IS HERE TO BING BANG BOOM MEOW THEIR WAY TO VICTORY- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM NADO-HUNT, CONSISTING OF NEITO NADO-HUNT, MANGA FUKIDASHI, PONY TSUNOTORI, AND KOJI KODA!"

That’s a pretty OP mix. Koda might have a bad time, though. There can’t be that many animals in a fake city.

"IT'S THE PERFECT MIXTURE OF DEFENSE AND OFFENSE FOR OUR NINTH TEAM- GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM KAMAKIRI, CONSISTING OF TOGARU KAMAKIRI, JUROTA SHISHIDA, MINORU MINETA, AND MEZO SHOJI!

WE'RE NOT SURE IF OUR ARENA IS GOING TO SURVIVE THE TENTH TEAM, SO TRY TO BE CAREFUL, STUDENTS- BUT GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM KAMINARI, CONSISTING OF DENKI KAMINARI, YUI KODAI, TOORU HAGAKURE, AND KINOKO KOMORI!

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, SNEAKING IN AND READY TO TAKE THE WIN- GIVE IT UP FOR OUR ELEVENTH TEAM, CONSISTING OF MASHIRAO OJIRO, MAINA FURASU, FUMIKO OGASAWARA, AND BASHIRO MAKIMA!"

After a quick bus ride, everyone who’s still competing arrives at the faux city. So basically, all the hero students, Hatsume, Furasu, and two gen-eders.

“The four of you remember what to expect in here, yeah?”, Kirishima wonders out loud as he looks up at the gates.

Reiko’s always so serious. “Indeed.”

While Itsuka’s more straightforward. “Same as the entrance exam, yeah?”

Kirishima nods. “Something similar, yeah.”

I crack a joke.

“Imagine remembering the entrance exam, couldn’t be me. But yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Should be just a basic mock city- it’s not too complex.”

Yeah, it was a joke. I’m either shit at humor or Kiri is oblivious. Both? Both is good.

“Everyone ready?”

Wow, Mic could be quiet when it’s over the PA. 

Kirishima cracked his knuckles to prepare. “Alright, folks…”

“GOOOOO!”

 

Kirishima sprints straight into the opening gate. “Once more unto the breach!”

Kendo charges in right after him. “Hell yeah!”

I feel myself get lifted off the ground by Yanagi, before being floated forward. 

“Keep an eye out for hostages!”

Everyone makes it into the main street. There’s a horde of robots that look like they’re the same models as the ones from the entrance exam that surround dummies with blue LED lights on them. And, well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these dummies were the hostages. 

Kirishima holds his hand up towards me. “Uraraka!”

I oblige, reaching out and tagging him.

He then calls for Poltergeist. “Emily!”

The speaker on Reiko, which I’m guessing is “Emily”, crackles to life. “Happy sailing, Kiri!”

“HEY, SCRAP HEAP!”

Wow, Kirishima sure is enthusiastic about getting into a robot fight. That’s not my business, though. I just tap my fingers together and release him from my quirk. Kirishima is busy acting like he’s the main character in a cheesy action movie, but he’s probably fine with Kendo backing him up, so I work with Yanagi instead. She floats me over to let me safely tag the dummies, which I do with gusto. It’s nice being in a body where I can actually run around for more than a minute at a time.

As I tag one dummy after another, I notice that the lights on each “hostage” turn from blue to yellow, and eventually, after Reiko and Emily lift them to safety, to green. 

I watch Kirishima and Kendo finish their respective fights and high five. 

“Alright! Let’s keep up the pace! Uraraka, mind giving me another boost?”

Right, right, tap his hand, activate my quirk. I tag him again.

“No problem.”

Emily also activates Poltergeist. It was probably easier to do with my quirk activated as well. 

Kirishima grins at the team. “Then let’s start smashing!”

We all just stare at him. If I had to say, Kendo looked like the surprised Pikachu meme and Reiko looked like the “huh” cat.

“…In my defense, you guys all know what I mean.”

In order to spare everyone from the awkwardness, Emily chucks Kirishima at the nearest robot. 

“HONOR AND GLORY!”

 

The rest of the event passes uneventfully, with the four of us using our strategy to the fullest. It’s not very fun for me, since I mostly just tag everything and use my quirk on them, but honestly? Whatever works. Nevertheless, I was exhausted when the event finally ended. If anything, the buzzer sounding was a relief. 

“AND THAT’S A WRAP, EVERYONE! NOW, IF EVERYONE WILL PLEASE RETURN TO THE STADIUM, WE’LL GET READY TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS!”

After another short bus ride, every contestant safely makes it back to the stadium.

“NOW, BEFORE WE PLACE THE WINNERS, CONTESTANTS, YOU’LL NOTICE THAT YOU WERE HANDED A SMALL TABLET UPON ENTRY! THERE’S AN ADDITIONAL TWIST THAT YOU WEREN’T AWARE OF: ONLY THE PERSON WHO RESCUED THE ROBOTS GOT THE POINTS!”

Mr. Aizawa sighs. “It was a logical ruse.”

“THAT’S RIGHT IT WAS! EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED! BUT DON’T WORRY, ALL OF YOU WHO WEREN’T FOCUSED ON RESCUES; PLAYERS, WE’RE GOING TO GIVE YOU FIVE MINUTES TO DECIDE HOW MANY POINTS YOU WANT TO DIVIDE UP ACROSS YOUR TEAM!”

Honestly, no one in our team was even close to surprised. UA was an insane school, and this might as well be canon. After all, during the entrance exam, Midoriya passed just through rescue points.

“Right, I’m going even-split among everyone- if you guys groove with that?”

Only Kirishima would use the word “groove”. 

“That is what I was planning for as well.”

Surprisingly, that was Kendo, not Yanagi. It did make sense. She was class rep, she could be somewhat formal.

“Wait, but Reiko and I got more points than all of you!”

Yeah, does just tagging them- which was what I did- even count as rescuing? I’ll try to play it safe.

“You also did more, to be fair. Make your choice how you want it- but I’m fine with just an even split, given how cornerstone you guys were. Uraraka?”

“I feel like it doesn’t really matter what I choose if all three of you even split. I’ll just pick one.”

I’ll probably split 25% or 50%. Eeeny, meeny, miny, mo. 25% it is.

“Fair enough! See you guys in the third round, then!”

Right, right, third round. Kendo and Kirishima are naturally countered by me by virtue of my quirk, and Yanagi could be more trouble, but ranged fighters naturally aren’t great at close range. I could take a few hits and get up close to finish her off.

“AND THAT’S TIME! PLAYERS, I’VE GOT BAD NEWS FOR YOU-”

The audio clip of Aizawa speaking plays again. “It was a logical ruse.”

I tune out what everyone else says to focus on Mic’s explanation. Let’s see what exactly is going on in this game. 

“THAT’S RIGHT! THIS WAS A TEST OF YOUR HEROISM! PLAYERS, THE NUMBER OF POINTS YOU GET IS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF POINTS YOU WERE PLANNING ON GIVING AWAY.”

Kendo looks startled. “What?”

“SO WITH THAT IN MIND, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR SCORES!”

She speaks again, sounding even more shocked. “ What?”

Kirishima just shrugs. “It’s U.A., my friend.”

“I’m not worried, we got enough points to get everyone in anyway.”

Kirishima only grinned cryptically in response. 

“Hopefully! But you know what they say about eggs and counting them.”

Anyway, it was time for the announcement of the final sixteen. Whatever happened, happened. …although I’m still 99% positive we all made it through.

 

“COMING IN SIXTEENTH PLACE, IT’S KYOUKA JIROU!”

Kirishima cheered. Right, he seemed somewhat close to her.

“IN FIFTEENTH PLACE, IT’S IZUKU MIDORIYA!

IN FOURTEENTH PLACE, IT’S OCHAKO URARAKA!”

Kirishima held his hand out for a high-five. “Nice work!:

After a brief moment of hesitation, I high-five him back.

“IN THIRTEENTH PLACE, IT’S KOSEI TSUBURABA!

IN TWELFTH PLACE, IT’S SEN KAIBARA!

IN ELEVENTH PLACE, IT’S NEITO NADO-HUNT!

IN TENTH PLACE, IT’S RIKIDO SATO!

IN NINTH PLACE, IT’S ITSUKA KENDO!”

Instead of a high-five, Kendo and Kirishima fist-bump. 

“IN EIGHTH PLACE, IT’S MANGA FUKIDASHI!

IN SEVENTH PLACE, IT’S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!”

Kendo lightly punched Kirishima on the shoulder, and they took a moment to grin at each other. Yeah, not getting in the way of whatever this was.

“IN SIXTH PLACE, IT’S TSUYU ASUI!

IN FIFTH PLACE, IT’S MEI HATSUME!”

Kirishima cheered for Hatsume as well. Seriously, did this man befriend half the school or something?

“IN FOURTH PLACE, IT’S TENYA IIDA!

IN THIRD PLACE, IT’S REIKO AND EMILY YANAGI!”

Probably running out of ideas for quirky ways to congratulate someone at this point, Kirishima settled for another high-five this time as well.

“IN SECOND PLACE, IT’S HITOSHI SHINSO!

AND IN FIRST PLACE! YOUR WINNER OF THE SECOND ROUND FOR THE FIRST YEAR STAGE: IT’S SHIHAI KUROIRO!

NOW, WE’LL BE CLEARING THE STAGE FOR OUR LUNCH BREAK! AND CONTESTANTS, IF YOU’VE GOTTEN ELIMINATED, DON’T WORRY: WE’VE COME UP WITH A BEVY OF RECREATIONAL GAMES FOR YOU TO SHOW OFF YOUR QUIRKS! SEE YOU IN AN HOUR!”

Mic segways into asking Ms. Joke and Mr. Aizawa for lunch. Wacky hijinks ensue. Seriously, it’s straight out of a sitcom. Just listen to this. No points for guessing who’s who.

“Sure thing, Mic!”

“Absolutely not, I’m taking a nap.”

“C’mon, Eraser, you’ve got to take better care of your body! Listen to your wife!”

“For the last time, we’re not married-”

We are spared this suffering by the sound cutting out.

Kirishima gestures to the exit of the stadium. “Uraraka, want to grab lunch with us?

Unfortunately, Kirishima forgot that I don’t want to deal with fifteen people. I already basically have to do that in round three, I don’t want to have to interact with half the school.

“Nope, sorry, already packed something earlier.”

“Ah, sorry to hear that. Itsuka, Reiko, Emily- you guys ready to get moving?”

“Ah- actually, Kirishima, I wanted to talk to you- about the Monoma thing I mentioned before round one.”

What Kendo said piqued my curiosity. Monoma thing? I’ll talk to him sometime later, after all this Sports Festival stuff is done.

“Right, right”, Kirishima nods.

“…I’ve already had this discussion and I will leave the two of you to it. See you at lunch, both of you.”

“Bye!”

Looks like Reiko and Emily are taking their leave as well.

Kirishima gave Reiko a thumbs up. “See you in the cafeteria then!”

I can dip as well. “See you guys, good luck in the finals!”

 

Lunch is uneventful. I carefully unwrap my sandwich and, well, yeah. Everyone knows how to eat a freaking sandwich, don’t they? For what it’s worth, it was a good sandwich. This is a nice time to rest, since the recreational games take place now, the break is a bit longer than usual. 

I take over two chairs and lie down. After the excitement of the first two games, the third round is definitely the best time to show off. I didn’t do too well in round one or two, with me only making it onto the sixth level and then placing fourteenth. Still, I think round two was kind of bullshit, since the fighters were kind of screwed either way. They didn’t have many points in the first place, so they most likely would have given up fewer points. And even if they gave up more, it would still be hard to place, given that, again, they have less points overall.

At around five minutes left until the games resume, I return to where everyone who made it to round three had been told to be, and wait for the telltale sound of Present Mic’s blaring voice.

“AND WE’RE BACK! GET FIRED UP, EVERYONE: ROUND THREE STARTS HERE! ALL OF YOU STUDENTS HAVE BEEN THROUGH HELL TO GET HERE, BUT KNOW THAT YOU DESERVE IT FOR FIGHTING WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH! BUT NOW, IT’S TIME FOR THE FINAL EVENT! YOU’VE ONLY GOT YOURSELF TO RELY ON! YOU KNOW THE SAYING, EVERYONE: PLUS ULTRA! USE ALL THAT YOU HAVE AND FIGHT FOR THE TOP- THAT’S THE HEROIC WAY!”

Woo! Round three, round three, round three!

Ochako mirrored my excitement.

“Yeah! Let’s do our best! We’ll make it to the finals for sure!”

 

“NOW, AS A QUICK RECAP FOR EVERYONE, WE’VE GOT SIXTEEN STUDENTS COMPETING!”

Sixteen students? Uh oh, was a black-and-white bear suddenly going to show up?

“FIRST UP, FROM CLASS 1-A, HE’S HERE TO SHOCK THE COMPETITION, IT’S DENKI KAMINARI!

FROM CLASS 1-H, SHE’S GOT A BEVY OF BABIES FOR EVERY PROBLEM, IT’S MEI HATSUME!”

…this sounds so bad out of context.

“FROM CLASS 1-B, HE’S READY TO SHOUT HIS HEART OUT, IT’S MANGA FUKIDASHI!

FROM CLASS 1-B, HE’S THE MASTER OF MIMICRY, IT’S NEITO NADO-HUNT!”

Master of mimicry sounds sick. I hope Present Mic gives me a cool nickname as well.

“FROM CLASS 1-A, HE’S AS STRONG AS A BAG OF ROCKS AND JUST AS DURABLE, IT’S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!

FROM CLASS 1-B, THEY’RE TWO SPOOKY PSYCHICS IN ONE, IT’S REIKO AND EMILY YANAGI!

FROM CLASS 1-B, HE’S GOING TO SPIN HIS WAY TO A VICTORY, IT’S SEN KAIBARA!

FROM CLASS 1-A, HE HASN’T USED HIS QUIRK YET AND HE’S STILL IN ROUND THREE, IT’S HITOSHI SHINSO!”

He…hasn’t used his quirk? Well, it makes sense, since his quirk is basically a one-and-done with how one usage will just make everyone know what it does and render it useless. Still, that means he’s definitely really scary when it comes to raw combat.

“FROM CLASS 1-B, HERE TO BLOW ALL HIS OPPONENTS AWAY, IT’S KOSEI TSUBURABA!

FROM CLASS 1-B, HERE TO SNEAK UP ON THE COMPETITION, IT’S SHIHAI KUROIRO!

FROM CLASS 1-A, HE’S AS STRONG AS A TANK OF MOLASSES AND BUILT TO LAST, IT’S RIKIDO SATO!

FROM CLASS 1-A, SHE’LL SEND YOU INTO THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE, IT’S OCHAKO URARAKA!”

It’s exhilarating hearing people cheering for you. Especially when it’s accompanied by a cool slideshow of you in action. But seriously, was “sending you into the upper atmosphere” the best Mic had? 

“FROM CLASS 1-A, HE’S GOT A NEED FOR SPEED AND HE’S READY TO SHOW IT, IT’S TENYA IIDA!”
Ooh, Iida made it. Of course he did. At least there’s no high places to fall from this time.

“FROM CLASS 1-A, SHE’S READY TO HOP INTO ACTION, IT’S TSUYU ASUI!

FROM CLASS 1-A, HE’S LEAN, MEAN, AND GREEN, IT’S IZUKU MIDORIYA!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, FROM CLASS 1-B, SHE’S READY TO GIVE HER OPPONENTS THE HAND, IT’S ITSUKA KENDO!”

“…I don’t think that one really works.”

Jeez, if even Ms. Joke said that, I’m inclined to agree. To be fair to Mic, though, he’s probably stretched his creativity to the limit just by having to come up with funny descriptions for everyone all day. 

“…that was harsh.” 

I was about to respond to Ochako, but Present Mic did it for me. 

“SHUSH, IT’S FINE! NOW, ERASER, DO YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN HOW THESE MATCHES WILL WORK?”

“No.”

“GREAT! TAKE IT AWAY, ERASER!”

…yeah. Can’t say I expected much different, but I perked up anyway as Eraser begrudgingly explained the system.

“Each student will compete in a series of one on one single elimination battles. The first opponent to be thrown out of the ring, the first opponent to be unable to continue fighting, or the first opponent to concede will be eliminated. Going for lethal maneuvers or permanent injury will disqualify you; all other injuries are allowed.”

“THAT’S RIGHT! THERE ARE NEARLY NO HOLDS BARRED! NOW, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR BRACKET!”

…how the fuck was that what Present Mic took away from this?

“AND HERE’S OUR FIRST EIGHT MATCHES! FIRST UP, WE’VE GOT SHIHAI KUROIRO VERSUS TENYA IIDA! THEN KOSEI TSUBURABA VERSUS HITOSHI SHINSO! RIKIDO SATO VERSUS SEN KAIBARA, TSUYU ASUI VERSUS EIJIRO KIRISHIMA, MANGA FUKIDASHI VERSUS ITSUKA KENDO, NEITO NADO-HUNT VERSUS REIKO AND EMILY YANAGI, MEI HATSUME VERSUS DENKI KAMINARI, AND FINALLY IZUKU MIDORIYA VERSUS OCHAKO URARAKA! STRAP IN, FOLKS! THIS IS GOING TO BE A FESTIVAL TO REMEMBER!”

I was up against Midoriya? First bracket? …fuck.

But for now, time to watch the others. I was kind of invested in this match. I wanted Iida to get as far as possible, so we could face off. As the match began, I watched from the sidelines as Iida activated his engines and rushed at Kuroiro. 

“Is this how he managed to get help during the…canon…USJ attack? He’s really reliable!”

“Mhm, he’s a pretty cool guy. Both canonically and right now. He was pretty funny in Round 1 so I hope he makes it to the finals. That way we can fight!”, I reply to Ochako. 

It’s pretty interesting to see two people I’d classify as speedsters duke it out. Iida’s faster in a straight-up race, obviously, with his Engine quirk, but Kuroiro has the benefit of agility and being able to effectively fast-travel in the shadows. 

“Iida’s really fast! Oh, Kuroiro’s not going to be fun to fight”, Ochako spoke.

Both of us were momentarily left confused as Kuroiro seemingly vanished, but then…

“Oh my god, this madman’s in Iida’s clothes ?”, I cover my mouth with a hand before proceeding to say, almost on autopilot, “That’s sus.”

“...What does that mean, Sam?”

Oh. Oh no.

“Ahaha, nothing, Chako, nothing.”

The next match was Shinso vs Tsuburaba. Maybe Shinso would finally use his quirk here? He had been saving it, after all. Tsuburaba suddenly starts to attack himself. What? But I hadn’t seen Shinso talk at all. I checked with Ochako, and she also hadn’t seen Shinso’s mouth move in the slightest! 

“Wait, Sam, could Shinso be the traitor?”

I shake my head, probably looking like a crazy person since I’m reacting to what’s effectively myself.

“No, it’s not a second quirk. Look at how confused he is. Shinso has no idea what’s going on either.”

I made a note to talk to Tsuburaba later. If my hunch was correct, he could prove useful…

Ochako was confused. “Kaibara’s the…guy who can spin things, right?”

Honestly, I barely remembered him as well. Sucks to be a side character in this show. 

“Yeah, probably, just based on what Mic said. “Spin to win” or something.”

As the match begins, the two of us watch as Sato fails to land attack after attack. Kaibara is just too fast with his quirk. Geez, this really was becoming a “spin to win” battle. Sooner or later, Sato would probably be pushed out. Since with his quirk Kaibara can become a drill of sorts, he can output much more force than he normally could. Even a strong guy like Sato couldn’t withstand that for lo-what. What. 

So apparently, Sato is fifteen feet tall now. Obviously, as one is wont to do when they’re FIFTEEN FREAKING FEET TALL, Sato easily stops Kaibara’s attacks and gives him a “ring-out.” 

“Well”, I grimace, “I think we found our second quirk user.”

 

Asui vs Kirishima and Kendo vs Manga were both absolutely one-sided slaughters. Kirishima and Asui were both more physical fighters, but Kirishima was definitely the stronger one between them, and also had a more reliable way of defending himself. Kendo had powerful strikes, but was limited to close-range sparring, while Manga could release extremely powerful attacks in short sequence, being able to keep Kendo away easily.

Monoma vs Yanagi was up next, but I wanted to stretch my legs and maybe use the restroom before my match started. I didn’t exactly want to piss myself on live television now, didn’t I? As I walked around, I thought about possibilities for my match against Midoriya. He was fast and had a lot more control over his quirk than canon during this point in time. But Midoriya had a serious limitation. He was a close range fighter. Without Air Force, which is something he learns how to do much later, the power gap didn’t matter as much. After all, for me to win, all I needed was one touch onto someone. 

Whatever. Whatever happens, happens. I finished up, bought and drank some water, and returned to the waiting area just in time to see Kaminari finish up against Hatsume. So he’ll be my next matchup…he’s an emitter, so that’ll be annoying. Still, I have to focus on Midoriya first, or he’ll easily catch me off guard.

 

I shivered slightly. The tunnel was kind of chilly, especially in only my gym uniform. I could hear Mic yelling, even in here. It was a bit muffled…probably something about the acoustics.

“GET READY FOR THE FIRST ONE VS ONE MATCH OF THIS YEAR’S FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! AND FOR OUR FIRST CONTESTANT, IT'S THE GREEN HAIRED BRAWLER WITH THE SPEED OF A BULLET TRAIN, IZUKU MIDORIYA!”

The crowd was cheering; Midoriya must have made his entrance.

“DON’T COUNT OUR NEXT CONTESTANT OUT JUST YET EITHER, FOLKS, IT’S THE PINK POWERHOUSE, OCHAKO URARAKA!”

“Ok, first match. You’ve got this”, I whispered to myself as I exited the safety of the tunnel to the world beyond. 

I decided to be sportsman-like. 

“Good luck.”

He visibly perked up and smiled widely. 

“Good luck to you too!”

Oh look, I did something nice for once. You’re welcome, Ochako. I didn’t have much time to talk with her, though.

“Begin.”

 

I stay still and alert, waiting for Midoriya to start moving and choosing to react to him instead. Midoriya was a close-range fighter, so while he may land some hits on me this way, I had more chances to use my quirk as well. Midoriya dashes at me emitting green smoke and with his hands up, ready to fight. I’m guessing that was his five-percent. Luckily, my quirk makes it easier to dodge. I tap myself on the wrist before pushing off the ground, letting the verticality take me away safely. 

Credit where credit’s due, Midoriya had good reflexes. He quickly stopped by digging his heels in and took a defensive stance before giving me any good opportunities to attack. That was fine, however. If he won’t give me any opportunities…then I’ll have to make them myself.

I tap my fingers together, releasing the hold Zero Gravity has on myself, and drops down, faking with my right hand before lunging forward with my left. My right hand’s dominant, so maybe he’ll be tricked…nope. He managed to block my real attack. I quickly backed off. What I didn’t want the most in this matchup was to have an extended close-quarters fight. While I’d theoretically get a lot of chances to touch him, Midoriya’s control over One For All could result in me quickly getting forced out of the arena. 

As I backed off, Midoriya tried to follow after me before-oh! He punched at the last second so that I couldn’t tell where he was going to come from. Smart. I had plenty of time to think about that after I got hit. I make two swiping motions with my arms to hopefully get him to back off for a minute. After all, he has to beat me. All I have to do is touch him.

Instead of retreating as expected, Midoriya punches the ground. It must have been enhanced by One for All, since that part of the arena was quickly cracking. 

“Thundershock!”

This is probably one of the more ranged attacks he has! Have to…get away- a-ah! I had tapped my wrist again to get away from the ground, but the attack had more power behind it than I expected, and I still had to bear part of it. Trust me, it was not fun getting knocked back by…rocky shockwaves. Worst of all, I had dust in my eyes. Wait…the arena was destroyed? It was!

I release myself and quickly begin darting around, touching the surrounding ground. Thanks to the broken-up ground, several pieces of debris soon began to float. I grinned, realizing I suddenly had a lot more to work with.

Of course, I then began procedurally chucking piece after piece at Midoriya. I can see that this is pressuring him. Tap, float, throw. He’s having to back up more and more. Tap, tap, float, throw. He’s almost at the border…now! I kick two already-floating pieces of the ground at Midoriya, then run straight at him. Either he destroys the projectiles and I get the chance to tag him, or he stops me and the projectiles knock him out of bounds! I win!

Midoriya chooses to block the attacks, leaving him to be tagged by me. 

“AFTER THAT TRICKY MANEUVER, MIDORIYA IS OUT-OF-BOUNDS! THE WINNER IS OCHAKO URARAKA!”

I sigh and tap my fingers together again to release Midoriya. I shiver slightly. Did it suddenly get colder in the stadium? I reach up and touch my face. It’s cold. Oh. It’s just quirk exhaustion. I probably exhausted myself from repeatedly using the debris.

I could hear Midoriya muttering to himself, maybe talking to canon Izuku, before smiling and holding out his hand to me. 

“Good job! You did well.”

I gladly shake hands with him. He’s a good guy, and probably our best hope to stop All For One and Tomura. If he didn’t break up the ground, the match would have been a lot more even. 

“T-thanks.”

I swayed on my feet slightly. Woah, the ground was looking real good right now. As my vision refocused, I saw Midoriya’s concerned green eyes looking concernedly at me. 

“Do you need help? You seem exhausted.”

“No, I’ll be alright. Just…tired. Weight limit lower than canon.”

Seriously, quirk exhaustion was still much better than chronic illness. Midoriya smiles at me, seeming reassured. 

“You'll get the hang of it, I believe in you! Also, good luck on the rest of the tournament!”

I smile back at him. Or at least where I thought he currently was. 

“Thank you. I’m…going to rest a bit until my next match.”

Realizing that’s probably a good idea based on how tired I looked, he nodded and waved to me once again before exiting the arena. With that, I leave the arena as well, finding a refuge in my waiting room and lying down for a bit. There’s a speaker in the waiting room, so I relax until I hear explosions from Neito and Manga’s match. Ugh, those two are loud, but they should be done soon. Time for Kaminari.

 

“SHE CAN FLOAT, SHE CAN FLY, SHE CAN MAKE EVERYTHING TOPSY-TURVY, LET’S WELCOME OCHAKO URARAKA TO THE NEXT MATCH!”

This time I was the first one in the arena. I was feeling more confident from my win against Midoriya, but Kaminari’s quirk might be more challenging. Wow, it was weird saying that Electrification might be more challenging to deal with than One For All, but fights change a lot when all you need to do to win is touch someone. If I got too close, Kaminari wouldn’t even have to aim to deal serious damage. 

Since he’s an S/I as well, he should be able to control his electricity more, right? Like, focusing it on a certain spot on his body, maybe. That could be something to watch out for as well…

“AND THE OTHER FIGHTER IS HERE WITH THE LEFT-RIGHT GOODNIGHT, HE’S HERE TO SHOCK YOU! DENKI KAMINARI!”

Oh god, I was starting to sound like Midoriya. Sorry for the rambling, Ochako.

“Are both of you ready?”

Kaminari nods. “Yeah.”

I also agree. “Yep!”

Ectoplasm cues towards Present Mic, who then officially starts our match. 

“GET READY… GO!”

Kaminari immediately starts running backwards, probably to create distance. 

“This is going to be a weird match.”

Yeah. Again, similar to my match with Midoriya. But maybe less reliant on a mistake. Kaminari’s mobility is limited, after all.

“Tell me about it!”

Kaminari stops, apparently reaching a spot he’s satisfied with. 

“Quick or long? How are we going to let this play out?”

Too many questions, fuck it we ball. I run straight at him.

Kaminari gulps, jumping to the left. “Short it is, then. You are probably my worst possible match up.”

I stop my charge. I actually hadn’t even wanted to attack him, I just wanted to see his fighting style. It’s annoying that he didn’t even attempt to fight back.

“I don’t suppose we could just settle this with rock paper scissors? Or a game of UNO?”

Kaminari, what? What kind of question was that? 

“I feel like UNO would just lead to us attacking each other again.”

That, and we don’t have cards. Or even know if UNO freaking exists since this is not only a fake world but also two hundred years in the goddamn future?

“Honestly, entirely fair. Monopoly, then?”

…I feel like he missed my point. 

“Do you really want a match to take four hours? Actually, at this rate, it might anyway.”

He grins at me, unbothered. 

“I mean, I am stalling for time. So yeah that would be great. Although, all that time might not do me any good if I can’t land a hit. Although, maybe you’ll just get bored and forfeit.”

I wouldn’t get bored, but I’d rather not bore the audience. We do kind of both need internships. So I take a few steps forward. Towards the man who can emit lightning. Great idea.

“And that failed,” I saw Kaminari begin running at me, “Might as well make this quick and easy for one of us”, he says, and I hear the telltale crackle of electricity. So his quirk was active. Looks like he was finally getting serious. 

I stay quiet, trying to focus on his approach. There were always opportunities. Maybe I could trip him. But before I could do much, he closes the distance between us, much faster than I expected, and punches out at me. 

I yelp, ducking and barely managing to scrape by. I can smell something burning. Considering I’m not screaming in pain, it’s probably a bit of my hair. It’s ok, though, because he’s close now. Before Kaminari can follow up, I kick out at him, aiming for his stomach.

I feel flesh give against my shoe, and the soft crackle of electricity stops. 

“I expected you to try and make me float, fuck that hit the liver.”

Kaminari suddenly punches me again, hitting me in the side. I wince (that was a good hit) but luckily, he had already deactivated his quirk. It was a lot better than what I expected. And now he was even closer. 

Tap. I swiped at his leg with my hand and, surprisingly, connected. 

Kaminari begins floating. “Oh Canada…” 

I relax slightly, pretty sure I just win now. 

“Is this, like, a call now? Like, the match ends?”

Kaminari shrugs, a few feet in the air.

“I have no idea. I could theoretically still fight but…but I don’t think that would be a good idea. So, I forfeit.”

Ectoplasm makes the official call. “Denki Kaminari has forfeited.”

And Mic broadcasts it to the audience. 

“DENKI KAMINARI HAS TAPPED OUT! MOVING ONTO OUR QUARTER FINALS, OUR LAST COMPETITOR IS OCHAKO URARAKA! WE’LL BE STARTING THOSE IN FIVE MINUTES, SO GET READY, EVERYONE!”

“Great,” Kaminari looks at me before glancing back down at the ground, “Please let go of your quirk before I get too high up. I don’t know if my back or head deserves more punishment today.”

Oh. Yeah. Releasing my quirk.

I quickly tap my fingers together. “Right, sorry.”

Kaminari falls to the ground safely. 

“It’s fine. All’s fair in war. You outplayed me and won. Good luck with your next match.”

War, huh? Well, it certainly wasn’t Monopoly. 

“Thank you! I’ll try to get as far as I can.”

Kaminari smiles back. 

“Good luck with that. Although you’ll 100% beat any close range fighter so I’m not too sure that you’ll need it. Your next opponent might or might not be, so good luck with him especially.”

He jokingly salutes before turning to leave. Seeing him leave, I do so as well. My next opponent would be the toughest yet. Someone who could basically pick and choose out of two classes full of meta abilities. Someone who spends his free time testing the limits of quirks. The jack.

Neito.

 

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, LET’S WELCOME SOMEONE TO THE ARENA THAT CAN DO IT ALL, NEITO NADO-HUNT, THE MAN OF A THOUSAND QUIRKS!”

I shivered slightly in the tunnel from how much of a banger that description was. Just kidding. It was cold. 

“ZERO GRAVITY? ZERO LOSSES. THAT’S RIGHT, COMPETING AGAINST HIM IS OCHAKO URARAKA!”

Looks like that was my cue.

“Hey there, Sako! So the winner makes it to the finals, huh?”

Finals…that was a pretty insane idea. Then again, I don’t mind being a little insane. That’s it, I’m winning this.

“Guess so. Before everything starts going crazy, good luck to you.”

Monoma smiled back. And promptly had an asthma attack.

“And to…ahck, ough, -to you!”

Ectoplasm saved me from wondering if Neito was on his deathbed. 

“Are you both ready?”

We both cheerfully agreed, Ectoplasm signaled to Present Mic…I was getting used to this.

“GET READY… AND BEGIN!”

Monoma immediately pulls out Pony’s quirk, and throws himself into the air, balancing on two horns. Obviously, I don’t want to follow him into the air yet. Zero Gravity is more stable than Horn Cannon, especially copied Horn Cannon, but it also leaves me with less maneuverability, especially since I don’t have my grappling hook. So, instead of taking the bait, I stay down on the ground and carefully watch his movement.

Neito seems to have noticed my absence. “Not gonna try to follow me up, huh?

He quickly launches a horn at me, trying to grab onto my clothes and pull me out by force. Moving mostly by instinct, I quickly tap myself on the wrist and stomp hard on the ground in those milliseconds before Zero Gravity fully takes effect, pushing off and being able to basically video game double jump.

“Nice one!” Neito calls as he switches to Vines. 

Several vines wind towards me, and I do my best stopping them with my quirk. Tap, tap, tap. One vine after another halts in midair, but I’m snatched from my task when a vine wraps around my arm. The vine slams me to the ground before I feel it go limp. That means he switched quirks, and I have a feeling I know what was switched t-

“POW! BUMP! ZIP! HISS! BASH!”

With great power comes great responsibility, and also apparently a great zombie voice. Neito sounded more dead, or I guess undead, the more he used Comic, but I’d worry about that after I won. I focus on dodging the slower words and tanking the fast ones. If I tried to dodge the fast ones and ended up walking straight into the slower ones and still probably getting hit by a fast one or two, it would be kind of dumb. I feel a sudden dull pain as I get hit by “pow” and “zip”, and I also register that I’m getting pushed back slightly. 

Undeterred, Monoma continued his assault.

“BOOM! KABOOM!"

Manga’s trump cards. Shit. I have an idea but I have to do it really, really fast. I get as close to “boom” as possible without getting seriously hit, and use the smoke from the blast as cover. I toss my jacket before hiding myself in the smoke to avoid the larger explosion. When I see him looking around to try and see if I got hit, I double jump again and launch myself at Monoma to try and end this. 

“TWANG! VROOM!”

With his precious reaction time, Neito manages to quickly dash away before skidding to a sudden stop. I hear him mutter something else, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. The words get easier and easier to dodge as well. He’s definitely getting tired by now. I just drop down to avoid “twang”, now facing the copycat again. 

“CHOO-CHOO! BANG! BLAM!”

The hacking cough is getting a bit concerning at this point, but I won’t give up, and neither will he. “Choo-choo” luckily just sped past me, while I managed to use debris from the explosion to not get seriously hurt by “blam”. “Bang” just hurt my ears. Fuck “bang”.

“Slash!”

He picked up the swords he made before rubbing his throat. Looks like Neito was wanting to finish this up as well.

He speeds toward me again. “Vroom! Zzzz.” 

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that makes me sleep, shit! With the last of my energy, I pull Monoma closer by one of his slashes and tag him. The sword cuts my hand slightly, but even the sight of my own blood isn’t enough to keep me awake. 

I wake back up to being gently shaken awake. 

“Sak-ough, ack…Sako, you alright?”

At first I thought it was a teacher, maybe Ectoplasm or Recovery Girl, but…

“Ugh…Monoma? I’m…ok.”

“Glad you’re alright then. Great job.” I gratefully take his hand as he pulls me to my feet.

“Great..job? Didn’t I lose?”

“Monoma went out of bounds before you passed out.”

Ah! Ectoplasm could be kind of quiet. And scary. But I nod anyway. 

“I should probably bandage my hand or something.”

Ectoplasm evidently agrees, as a clone appears.

“I will escort you to Recovery Girl’s office.”

Walking with Ect-clone-plasm was pretty chill. He wasn’t much conversation, but it was nice to have someone know where we were going, because it sure wasn’t going to be me. We find Recovery Girl waiting in the room that was assigned to me for in-between matches. Huh. That’s convenient. Well, it made sense, since there was only me and Kirishima remaining. I meant in the round. Bad Danganronpa brain. 

Recovery Girl finally speaks. Even her voice is soothing. “Hello. Are both of you injured?”

“Both-oh hi Neito. Yes, I cut myself on the hand.”

Neito, who had followed me into my waiting room, chimed in. “I slammed into a wall at like 30-40 miles per hour.”

“How did you manage that? I know I sure didn’t do it”, I wonder out-loud as I give Recovery Girl my hand for her to use her quirk on and then wrap up. 

He shrugged. “I just continued moving at the speed I was going.”

Oh, right. His “vrooms”.

“So, do you go by a different name now? Mr. Ectoplasm called you Monoma.”

“Got adopted, so I’m Neito Nado/Hunt now.”

As we chat, Recovery Girl continues busying herself with work, preparing to check Mo-no, I guess Nado now, for broken bones.

There’s not really much for me to say. “Congrats. Big moment.”

“I guess. You think you’ll do good against Eijiro?”

I feel the sting in my hand go away as Recovery Girl finishes treating my wounds. 

“Honestly? Probably better than against you. I’m more comfy close range.”

“Fair. Hopefully you win!”

Funny you say that, Neito. Kirishima says that a lot as well. 

“You’re both free to go now.”

I was about to leave before Nado asked me another question. “Do you think I should cut my hair?”

I was confused for a second before I realized he was talking about Vine. 

“Probably. It seems inconvenient, you know. It could be grabbed by a villain or something.”

“True. Maybe shoulder length? I’m not sure what would look better, to be honest. Not exactly a fashionista. I suppose it can wait until I get scissors though.”

“Or until you figure out what words to yell so you can cut stuff”, I joke.

“Only swords from what I can tell so far, and you’re probably not supposed to use those to cut your own hair.”

Don’t knock cutting your hair with bladed implements! It’s fun!

“I’ve cut my hair with a knife, it’s not that bad”, I stand up, “Right, I should probably get ready for the finals. Mental prep, you know?”

“Yep, yep. Good luck! Have some Mochi!”

Nado grabs his “pantry” and hands a package to me. 

“Thanks! Rest up!”

 

I wave for good luck as he returns to the stands. After another finishing check-up, Recovery Girl leaves the room as well. Now it’s just me and the grand finale. Going into the match, Kirishima is definitely the one with more pressure on him. His quirk makes him by nature a close-range brawler, and I can take advantage of that. It’s annoying that I can no longer use my jacket as a decoy, though. He’ll be expecting it now.  

 

“PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOR OUR FINAL FIRST YEAR MATCH TODAY! IN ONE CORNER, STANDING FIVE FOOT SEVEN AND WEIGHING AS MUCH AS A BAG OF ROCKS, IT’S EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!!!!!”

Surrounded by a sea of faces and the roar of the crowd, our class rep seemed right in his element as he stepped out to meet his opponent. Which was me.

“AND IN THE OTHER CORNER- SHE’S SMALL, SHE’S PINK, SHE’S GOT CONTROL OVER ONE OF THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES- IT’S OCHAKO URARAKA!!!!”

It’s now or never, Chako. My feet move forward seemingly on their own, carrying me to what would either be one of the greatest victories of my pitiful existence or something I’d still think about ten years later when I was trying to sleep. 

Ok, so maybe I exaggerated a little bit. Can you blame me? I was nervous. I did my best to smile and wave to the crowd, though, drinking in their cheers. At least some of those people are cheering for you. They’re cheering for us, Chako.

Now, I was face to face with Eijiro Kirishima, and only one of us was going to be crowned Sports Festival Champion today. It was probably going to be him, let’s be honest here. But both Ochako and I agreed that we were not going to make it easy for him. 

Let’s give him hell, Chako.

I got the equivalent of a nod back.

“Good luck!”, Kirishima called.

It was loud inside the stadium right now, but I could still clearly make out what he said.

I made sure to be as cheery and loud as possible for me as well. It was what the finale deserved, after all. “You too!”

Once again, our trusty referee, Mr. Ectoplasm, checked in with us.

“Are both of you ready?”

“Ready!” 

Kirishima sounded so confident, like he was already sure he was going to win. Did I really have any cha-no. I was not going to psych myself out when I had already made it to the freaking finals. 

“Ready.”

With that, Ectoplasm nodded at the top box and…

“CONTESTANTS, GET READY… AND BEGIN!”

The finals had begun, but I couldn’t panic. For Ochako, and for her family.

 

I knew my quirk countered close range fighters, which Kirishima definitely was, so I wanted to stay on the defensive. As long as I was defending, he would have to be the one to get close to me, which left him more room for error and me with more room to tag him. 

However, Kirishima saw through my plans, which, to be fair, were really easy to see through. He hardened his fist and slammed it into the ground, easily breaking part of the arena up into rubble. This could have been good for me, as more objects I could affect with Zero Gravity were always a net plus, but Kirishima was relentless as he began to methodically pick up and throw rock after rock. 

I was left with no choice but to dodge, dodge, and dodge some more. It wasn’t quite as bad when you realize that I could dodge vertically.

Kirishima threw another rock. “Stop dodging!”

“How about NO?” I did not want to be on the other end of one of those things, even if this world ran on anime logic.

He grinned again.

“…Y’know what, fair enough!”

Kirishima ran out of debris and leaned down to break up more…now. I rushed forward to close the distance, knowing I didn’t have much time to catch him by surprise.

He straightened up and got into a fighting stance.

“Alright! Let’s get moving!”

…Dammit. Ok then, let’s improvise a little. I tapped myself on my arm to fake activating my quirk, then charged forward, attempting a straight tag with no feints. 

“Whoa!”

Unfortunately for me, Kirishima narrowly managed to duck to the side before spinning around and kicking me while his leg was hardened. Ow. Owowowow. Yeah, my stomach definitely felt that. As I was reeling from the kick still, I did my best to stay low to the ground even though it hurt like heck to use it as friction and stay inside the arena bounds.

“Alright alright!”, Kirishima raised his hands into a boxer formation, “Nice try, but it’s going to take more than that!”

Alright from me as well. 

“Then…I’ll do my best!”

He laughed, preparing for a good fight, hopefully. 

“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s do this!”

I knew I wasn’t good at straight fights, so I had to mostly rely on strategy and the unexpected. I hurried forward again, seeming like I was going to charge right at him again, before suddenly dropping lower. This time, my target was one of his legs. After all, it didn’t really matter where I tagged him, as long as I could.

“Whoa!” 

He narrowly jumped out of the way . At least I wasn’t out yet. It was ok, though. I just had to keep attacking. I had the advantage in this fight, I just had to remember that. So, instead of backing off and licking my wounds like Kirishima probably expected, I just tapped myself on the wrist and let my body float up a few feet before dropping down again. Basically, I was now on a hyper offensive. I could take some damage, but as long as I wasn’t incapacitated, all I needed was a singular touch to end the fight. That’s why it didn’t matter even as Kirishima ducked out of another tap before-ow, punching me in the face. God, that hurt . He missed my nose, though, so I could still barely keep my eyes open. I reached out with my hand and grabbed Kirishima’s wrist with all five fingers before he could back away completely.

Even though it was only a few seconds, it felt like an eternity had passed as the two of us stared dumbly at each other. Then, I felt something grabbing onto my arm. I froze before processing that it was Kirishima and that we were currently enemies, so I started to flail my arm around like one of those balloon guys at car washes.

“Get off get off get off-”

Kirishima only clung onto me harder. “No no no-” 

He tried to move one of his arms upwards, probably to get a better grip, but only managed to grab onto a handful of my hair in the process. So, of course, I did the logical thing and started yelling and running around like a kindergartener.

“Ack, stop it! You’re pulling on my hair!!”

Kirishima did not seem to be in any better shape.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah-”

I lost track of how long we spent like this, me running around the field flailing my arm while Kirishima clung on for dear life. It felt like a few hours, and we also had to hear shitty sitcom-level jokes while we fought. In other words, this was hell.

“ANNND EIJIRO KIRISHIMA IS STILL HANGING ON TO OCHAKO URARAKA! THIS IS A SUSPENSEFUL ONE, FOLKS!”

“You could say he’s… hanging in there, right, Eraserhead?”

“…I hate you.”

“Just release me already!”

I was almost relieved when Kirishima started moving again. But then, he did the unforgivable.

“Ow, you’re poking me!”

“Heck yeah I’m poking you! Let me go!”

He poked me again. That’s it, he’s going home in a body bag.

So, I poke him back. “That’s the idea!”

“WHO WILL BREAK THIS STALEMATE! STAY TUNED, FOLKS!”

Ah, look at Mic making fun of our misery. Bread and circuses, trapped in eternal torment…

Kirishima also seemed to be getting sick of this. “Want to just… step out of bounds?”

“In your dreams, dude.”

I twist my wrist and try to force my hand out through his fingers, but Kirishima simply holds on tighter. 

“I mean, first person out loses- we could just tie if we step out at the same time?”

“Does that even count? I’d feel bad for the refs if they had to frame-by-frame it.”

I don’t really feel like it. But that’s a bad reason, so whatever. Luckily, Kirishima buys it.

“Eh, fair enough! But if that’s the case-” 

I take it back. He headbutted me. I wobble, managing to still stay standing. Undeterred, Kirishima stays the course. This time, I do fall over. However, the impact also breaks his grip. 

Kirishima flails around in midair. “Aw, shit.” 

At first, I barely realize what happened. I slowly stand up, putting a hand up to my head where Kirishima had hit me. 

“That…somehow worked out?”

Ectoplasm calls up towards him, wanting to check in since Kirishima was a close-ranged fighter. 

“Kirishima, can you still fight?”

He struggles a bit more before finally giving up. “No.”

Ectoplasm raised a hand and pointed it towards me . 

“The winner is Ochako Uraraka.”

“THAT’S RIGHT, FOLKS! IN A TURN AROUND, OCHAKO URARAKA IS OUR WINNER AND THUS THE WINNER OF THE FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL!”

The crowd roars, and my blood sings. Then their volume increases. Ok, ok, ok, ow. That’s good. I tap my fingers together once again (I was getting used to it) and come over to Kirishima to shake hands.

“That was…intense.”

“It was, but I had fun! Good work!”

“Thanks!”

“Kirishima, you’re right here. Uraraka, right here. Monoma, Shinso, on this platform.”

 

It was surprisingly easy for four fifteen-year olds to get organized this quickly. Probably because most of us weren’t actually fifteen, but semantics. Mr. Ectoplasm was also pretty helpful, obviously. He had the job of making sure none of us fell from the podium.

Monoma nodded. “Got it.”

We all move to the correct positions, and honestly, I’ve had enough of climbing up concrete contraptions for now, but at least I could actually walk normally for once.

Kirishima accosts me as we find our spots. “Hey, Uraraka!”, he holds his fist out, “Good work out there! You too, Monoma, Shinso.”

I decide to return the gesture. No need to make enemies. Plus, it was nice to circlejerk ourselves on doing well.

“Thanks!”

The others seem cheery enough as well, even Shinso. We all look up, even Ectoplasm, as we hear some shaking. Someone, probably Mic, was shouting.

“They’re ready for you. Keep your arms and legs away from the edges of the platform as you ascend, please.”

We all nod. No one wanted to get hurt again . After making sure none of us were too visibly goofing off, Ectoplasm pulled the lever-pull the lever, Kronk- and the podium began to rise. 

“WE PRESENT TO YOU YOUR FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL WINNERS!”

The appearance of the spectators makes Shinsou significantly less happy. He keeps his face blank and shoves his hands in his pockets. The rest of us were just smiling, waving, and looking around, relishing in our accomplishment. I was so excited, and so was Ochako. For once, my smile was genuine. One of our “dreams” had come true. 

“AND AS WE ALL KNOW, THERE’S ONLY ONE PERSON WHO WE CAN GET TO GIVE OUT THE REWARDS. YOU KNOW HIM, YOU LOVE HIM, HE’S A FORMER WINNER HIMSELF… PLEASE WELCOME OUR NUMBER ONE HERO!”

Of course. Can’t have an arc without him. I caught a glimpse of a muscular figure standing on top of the stadium.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The crowd cheered even more than when we came up. Hey! Well, I guess I can’t blame them.

“That’s right! I am here!”, All Might leaps down and poses with a flourish, “To give out these medals!”

“Young Shinso, congratulations. For someone who didn’t want to place this highly, you had a fantastic showing.”

Shinso nods, looking down at the medal thoughtfully. “Thanks.”

All Might then proceeds to hug him. “But remember that your quirk is a useful tool, even if your enemies know not to respond. You don’t have to show your exact hand in every battle just to get some use out of it when you can disguise your usage just as well.”

Shinso looked like a surprised dog. “Yeah… Right.”

“Young Nado, congratulations. Well done. You demonstrated great flexibility and versatility out on the battlefield.”

Neito was being all formal again. “Thank you, Sir.”

All Might gives another hug. “Remember that you won’t always have your friends’ quirks to rely on. A pro hero must learn to fight on their own and in a group, as the situation demands.”

“Yeah, I know…”

Monoma seemed really happy to be hugged. Maybe I’ll ask someone friendly to do so, since he won’t do it himself. Didn’t he say he was adopted? I’ll go ask them to hug him more.

“Young Kirishima, congratulations. You showed great strength today and great resilience as you fought your way to the top. But don’t forget you still have many things to learn.”

Kirishima matches the enthusiasm, holding a fist up. “I do! But I’m not going to stop fighting- not till I get to the top!”

All Might laughs before hugging Kirishima as well. “Then I wish you luck in getting there, Young Kirishima!”

“Just watch me, All Might!”

Now, it was my turn. 

“Young Uraraka, congratulations.”

I felt the cold gold medal placed over my head. 

“Your victory today proves the skill and speed with which you fought; even though the road to being a pro hero still stretches in front of you, you have made great strides on that path today. Well done.”

I smile, even though it’s a bit embarrassing having to be hugged in front of a crowd.

“Thank you. I’ll keep doing my best from now on!”

“I know you will, Young Uraraka. Good work today.”

He’s hugging me…quick, say something. 

“Ah, um…thank you again. It really does mean a lot.”

All Might smiles before turning back to the crowd. “Here they are, everyone! The winners of this year’s first years Sports Festival! Remember, all of you: any one of you could have been up on this stage. I’m proud of all of your hard work today. You’ve challenged each other, you’ve learned, and you’ve climbed even closer to being a pro- each and every one of you. I think this next generation is our most promising one yet! Now, one more thing to say- and I want everyone to say it with me! You know what it is…”

I scream it along with everyone else, our voices filling the stadium with our hopes. 

“PLUS ULTRA!”

Chapter 9: Accismus

Life returned to its boring tedium after the Sports Festival.

 

Or at least, that’s what I’d like to say. Other than the giant steroid fueled elephant in the room of Sato being the world's worst spy and traitor ever, we had to decide on internships. And wasn’t there something they had to do before internships? Fuck. Hero names. God knows I didn’t want to be stuck being known as Uravity for the next couple years.

 

I arrive to class normally, noticing some oddities like Mineta of all people looking innocent and Sato, of course, avoiding eye contact. Even a dumbass like him knows he gave up the ghost when he just casually turned the size of a building. You know, like canonical Sato does-no Ochako I will never get over this. 

 

“Morning, class. Today we’re going to have a hero informatics class- and an important one at that.”

 

We know. Hero names. 

 

“Hero aliases.”

 

Everyone else seemed at least somewhat excited, even if they're a bit worried about being stuck with a bad name. I mean, Midoriya was called Deku through literally the entire show. That was scary. 

 

“Before we get started with that, I wanted to discuss your internship opportunities.”

 

A graph appeared on the board. Hey, how’d that happen? I frown as I notice what was in Aizawa’s hand. It was just a remote. How disappointing.

 

“As a reminder, these are based upon your results during the festival; essentially, they’re a way for pros to choose who they think is going to get big over your next three years at U.A. It’s their way of expressing interest in your futures. But remember: that’s plenty of time for their interest to wane, too. Any and all offers can be revoked when they want -they’re not any sort of promise.”

 

Oh wow, I got the most! Well, I’d hope so, it would be really weird for me to literally win and for someone else to get more. At least given the fact that I’m not canon Bakugo, you know? I looked over the numbers again more carefully. I had gotten the most since I had won the festival, Kirishima had also gotten a lot, and the offers went about proportionally down. I’d check back in detail later. Looks like I would have a lot to siphon through.

 

Aizawa continued. “However, with that noted- all of you will be participating in internships next week, even if you weren’t selected. U.A. partners with many agencies around the country so that none of you miss out on the experience, after all. All of you have already experienced real action, but there’s still much to be gained from working alongside real pros.”

 

It does sound pretty fun. And that means we get to fight actual villains. I smile to myself. I’ve been working over some new fun ways to use Zero Gravity… 

 

Looks like Fallia already had some ideas. “So we’re getting hero names? I’ve been thinking about mine for a while…more like a few days.”

 

“Exactly. But be cautious and pick your name well: if you don’t pick something appropriate…”, Midnight burst in like a fashionably late guest at a gala, “You’ll have hell to pay later! What you pick today could be your code name for life. You better be careful or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent. So, are you kids ready?” 

 

Even Aizawa seemed a little concerned.

“…Try not to traumatize them too much.”

 

“Me? Never!” She winks at us. Yeah, this isn’t the most reassuring, but…

 

“No worries, Aizawa-sensei. Bakugou isn’t canon anymore!”

 

I get a few good reactions and smile to myself. Well, to Ochako, actually, but that was close enough.

 

“Midnight is going to be approving or denying your names to make sure they’re actually sensible. What future do you see for yourself? What kind of hero do you want to be? Pick a name with those questions in mind.”

 

He took out a stack of small blackboards and chalk. Looks like we were doing this the old fashioned way.

 

“Hagakure, Shoji, Ojiro, Tsunotori, come to the front of the room and grab a stack of blackboards and chalk for your row, please. Start brainstorming now, everyone, and come up when you’re ready.”

 

I eventually receive a board and start thinking. I didn’t want to be Uravity. Sorry, Ochako, but it’s time that I leave a bit of a mark on this world as myself.

 

Midnight was actually being serious for once as well. 

“Your hero names are an extension of yourself and how you portray yourself to the world, so, choose wisely. Now students, who wants to go first?”

 

Kaminari went with Ronin, and after a long debate about whether it would be more thematically appropriate to choose a name that means lightning instead of thunder, Midnight approved it. 

 

Well, as long as I’m not first. Fuck it.

 

“I think I’ve got mine too…it’s not Uravity, I’ll tell you that much.”

 

“Oh?” 

 

It’s probably not as well thought out as Ronin…and I haven’t come up with an epithet yet, but it looks like I’ve got Midnight’s attention. Too late to back out now.

 

“Gravitas. Haven’t thought of an epithet, though.”

 

Midnight nods along.

“It's a delightful name!  But are you sure you want to go with it? It doesn't sound friendly to the civilians if you want to create that image.”

 

“Yep, I’m sure. I’m not who most of you think of me as, remember? And I’m taking epithet ideas too!” I smile at the class, acting friendly to not be too scary to the class. 

 

“Well, if you're sure, then why not?! Nice to meet you, Gravitas!”

 

Despite Midnight’s concerns, the rest of the class doesn’t seem too phased. And I did get a few epithet ideas! Kirishima threw out “the cosmic hero”, which wasn’t bad but didn’t really have much to do with my quirk. Fallia came up with a few as well. “Lightweight” makes me sound like I’d be terrible at drinking, but weightless sounded cool. 

Ojiro went with Tailman, like canon. But he went with “the Sisphyean hero” as an epithet. That was concerning, but I didn’t really care. Kirishima merged canon and originality by choosing “Red Riot” as in the show but changing his epithet to the “Stalwart Hero.” It was kind of cool to tribute both a hero you admire and your canon self, and Midnight agreed, quickly approving him. 

 

Next was Hagakure. 

 

“I wasn’t going to plan ahead or anything, but I had a lot of time on my hands, last month. So…”, she turns the board around, revealing the words ‘The Morning Hero, Dayspring’. “New beginnings and stuff, right?”

 

Not much to say about this one. It was a nice name, different from canon. I don’t think she’s an S/I, but, hey, butterfly effect is a thing. The main surprise about this, though, was that Mineta, who has been possessed by the spirit of Goku for some reason, was actually relaxed. While he had been going around yelling stuff like “so cool” and “that sounds strong” like a ten year old boy in the action figure aisle at a toy store, all he said here was that it was peaceful.

Momo went with canon, and she was even self-aware enough to say that most of us knew it already. Which we did, but hey, I could still clap. 

 

Non-canon Bakugou was up next, and I was curious what he’d pick. No variation of “King Explosion Murder” or “Lord Explosion Murder” would make a good hero name. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised with “The Explosive Hero: Rebomba”, which apparently was a combination of
“king” and “bomb.” His Italian was really showing. 

 

“And y’know what, since I now have the chance to actually say it, please just call me Franco from now on. Because I am this close to fucking losing it.”

 

Well, no more calling him non-canon Bakugou. Actually-nah, no actually. He’s chill enough so I won’t piss him off, and the rest of the class seemed to have no objections with calling him that as well. After all, Fallia was the same way. 

 

Up next was my fall companion, Iida. 

 

“I'm not sure how I feel on this, I'm taking any criticism for it.” 

 

He unveiled his name, which was [The Speed hero: Ghost].

 

“Certainly, with a speed quirk you'll be fast enough to feel like a ghost!”

 

Tsuyu was worried that the concept would be too similar to Yanagi, but I agreed with Midnight on this one. 

 

And of course, it had some of Iida’s personal touches. 

 

“It's a double reference, for one in the world I come from there is a manga/game series about street racing. The main character had the title of the white ghost as the Best racer, and then my armor takes a Kamen rider-like appearance and there is a Kamen Rider Ghost.”

 

Fallia went with “Hineigoto”, which apparently meant something like “secret shadow.” It made sense since they wanted to be an investigative hero. Especially after they started talking about secrets and lies like a freaking Danganronpa character. 

 

Ashido compromised between Alien Queen and Pinky by making “Alien Queen” her epithet, which I thought was pretty cool. After someone as energetic as her, Shinsou couldn’t look any more different if he tried.

 

“The Mindjack Hero, Psyren.”

 

What I meant to say was something like “Cool. That’s a badass name.” What came out was, well…

“That’s so fire! That makes you sound like a League of Legends character!”

 

He had the very predictable reaction of “a what?”

 

And instead of backing down like a sane person, I kept going.

“A league character! You know, something like “Sheriff of Piltover: Caitlyn!”

 

Shinsou’s reaction told me all I needed to know. No dice.

 

To save both of us from the crippling awkwardness, the rest of the class chimed in with variations of “it’s good!”

 

I thought it was over. I thought it was okay. Until Iida brought it back up. 

 

“Would Shiggy kill Shinsou last since he’s a league player?”

 

But it’s okay, I forgive him. Because that was genuinely funny.

Sero, Shoji and Tsuyu went with their canonical names, while Tsunotori went with “Aviator” thanks to Nado-Hunt. Looks like she was going to focus on the flight aspect of her quirk to match with her name.

 

Midoriya pulled an Eijiro and went with a mix of canon and originality with “The Helpful Hero: Dekiru.” I agreed with Franco on this one. Close enough.

 

This was going on for a while, wasn’t it? Anyway, Jirou and Koda went with their canon names. Blah blah blah. I really needed coffee, but I hated it. I would throttle someone for a Monster, though. I snapped back to attention since Ochako was mad that I was ignoring the class. Something about it being a manifestation of their dreams…I sure didn’t need any prompting to listen to the next one, though. It was Mineta’s and he went with “The Ball Hero: Rubber.” I. Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to hell. How do you manage to fit two innuendos in one hero name? And it got approved? What???

 

“To be honest, choosing names is going faster than I thought it would. All we have left now is… Sato. Are you gonna come up?”

 

Any mirth I had left from Mineta’s choice instantly evaporated. Here he was. The mole in the flesh. What was he going to do? Pretend like nothing was wrong and come up with a hero name? Confess everything in a foolhardy attempt for mercy? Go full Pumped-Up Kicks? He had showed off his second quirk on live television, after all. This guy was a moron. An unpredictable moron. I felt Ochako tense up as well, our hands tingling in preparation of using our quirk. 

 

Sato stood up and slowly walked to the front of the room before placing his board down on the podium. He sighed, looking haunted. Even someone like him must have realized that everyone knew. 

 

“Hey. I’m sure you all saw what I did at the festival. I wanted to clear things up. And, I suppose more accurately, ask for help. I ask that you don't interrupt me.

 

When I first woke up in this world, I'll admit that it didn't really click in my head how serious everything is. Sure, I knew the dangers, but I didn't really understand them. I blame all the fanfics I read making me think things would go smoothly, for giving me this flanderized version of everything.

 

The first thing I did was look for the League. I doubt I was the only one to do so. I figured that I could find them and turn them in, cut that whole problem right off the bat. The problem is, if you knock on enough doors asking for the devil, then sooner or later he will answer.”

 

I’m sorry, but this sounds like he’s reading some cheesy narration. I mean, “if you knock on enough doors asking for the devil, then sooner or later he will answer” being used in a serious context and not some dollar store trashy mafia romance? Ahahaha, how priceless. 

 

“I found Shigaraki and Kurogiri. In an alleyway, standing over a corpse.

 

They tried to kill me. No witnesses and all that. I… I thought I was going to die. I was going to die. So I lied, as I always do.

 

I was willing to say anything to save my own life. To try and make sure I didn't die cold and alone in an alley so far from home. I told him that I wanted to join the league. That I knew the future and wanted to be on the side I felt would win.

 

It was selfish, but I just wanted to survive. And it worked. But… Shigaraki isn't stupid. He threatened both me and Sato's parents. He said that if I betrayed the League, he would kill them.”

 

I’m sorry, a corpse? How the fuck would those two of all people leave a corpse? Shigaraki. His quirk literally decays what he touches, and I know he has zero qualms killing with it. And Kurogiri can just teleport the corpse away! He really picked the two people who would literally sooner be helping grandmas cross the street and singing in church choirs before leaving a corpse where any old Tom, Dick or Harry could stumble across it.

 

“I figured I would play along. Better me then someone else, you know? Better if I'm the one controlling the flow of information as opposed to someone malicious. It means I can at least do something. That was my stubbornness, and it cost me.

 

I told him the most barebones info. The basics of the first three seasons, since everything else I know comes from fanfictions and is unreliable. But I didn't tell him everything I knew, and I've made sure not to tell them everything about what's been happening here at UA.

 

I don't want anyone to get hurt, but things are getting out of my control.”

 

After the forest attack, All For One summoned me to him. He gave me this new quirk, the one you all saw me use in the festival. I don't know why he gave it to me, Whether it was a reward or some twisted way of trying to control me.”

 

Okay. it’s not really barebones information if Kurogiri could get involved. His quirk needs gps, after all, and that little “forest attack” kind of nearly killed half the class. I’m pretty sure Todoroki lost an arm from that. Hell, even I got stabbed in the hand. 

 

“I used it during the sports festival due to sleep deprivation. I was tired and not thinking, now things are worse off for it. The League has taken Sato's parents. They told me to fix this whole thing and get you all off my back or else they would kill them. Or worse, turn them into Nomu.

 

I don't know what to do. I'm in way over my head and I can't find a way to fix any of this. My stubbornness and idiocy led to all this shit, now I'm asking for help, because at this point I just want this nightmare to be over. I'm prepared to answer any questions you might have.”

 

Wait, he used his second quirk during the Sports Festival due to sleep deprivation? That…actually makes a good amount of sense. I almost had to stop myself from laughing out loud like a madwoman because holy shit, he was an even worse spy than we thought. Even Dabi seemed to have got in and out. Sato…Sato might have actually hurt the League while trying to help it. 

 

But for now, I should watch closely. The situation was like a powder keg about to blow. I knew the class was also tired of listening to Sato play the world’s goddamn smallest violin. 

 

Franco clapped his hands slowly. “Holy shit, congratulations. Now, can you please direct me to the part where I should actually give a fuck?”

 

Kirishima went as far as to stand up from his seat. “I call bullshit.”

 

Shinsou nodded, but I couldn’t make out what he said over the ensuing clamor. 

Midoriya glanced up tiredly with a very un-Midoriya-like look. Completely different from just a few minutes ago when he was introducing himself as Dekiru. “Really? Just… Really? That's the best you could come up with?”

 

“I know about your concerns, but what you did will make things more complicated for us. I mean, I had been suspecting you and even mentioned a possible traitor within 1A to Nedzu. But…I cannot believe it. The only way you would be able to achieve that is through having intention, because I know AFO would kill you on the spot for being a whiny little bitch.”

 

I snickered a little at that. Fallia was never one to miss with their insults. This was about par for the course so far. Half the class was openly venting directly at Sato and the other half was probably silently convincing themselves not to try and kill him right here. 

 

Kirishima had given up just trying to stand still and was now walking towards the front of the room. “Again- bullshit. Putting aside everything else, putting aside the bullshit excuses for how you found Shigaraki- you found the dude with a fucking decay quirk standing over a corpse? Like the one quirk that wouldn’t leave a body- you didn’t act like that during the USJ or the Sports Festival. You didn’t turn yourself in to Tsukauchi and Nedzu when you had the chance to. You got yourself into this mess intentionally, and now you’re lying to get yourself out of it. I. Call. Bullshit.”

 

Exactly. Glad to know I wasn’t insane. How the fuck would the two villains probably least likely to leave corpses leave. corpses?

“Kurogiri was standing over the body. Shigaraki was just watching. And you're right. I didn’t turn myself in. I should have. But I didn't. If I did, Sato’s parents would die, and the League would just find someone else to do this. I don't have information that could stop them, so what difference would it make to them?”

 

But then…why now? Sato’s parents were dead now anyway, right? What was the point of being so elusive this whole time? Was the fate of canon Sato’s parents literally decided through some random traitor’s sleep deprivation?

 

“What were you even planning on doing, going after Shigaraki like that?”

 

Good question, Shinsou. I could tell he was pissed, though. 

 

“I wasn't planning on finding them, I planned on finding their base, since I knew what the building looked like.”

 

“And what- you just didn’t find it? Didn’t bother to tell anyone that you knew where the League of Villains were? Or did you fucking sell us all down the river with the future just to save your own skin?”

 

Kirishima. Was. Angry. It was kind of unsettling to see the cheerful “leader” figure act like this, but I understood. Even Ochako was upset. I could feel her anger running through my veins like it was my own. 

 

“...sorry.”

 

“No, don’t worry, I’m also pissed, it makes no difference.”

 

“I didn't find it. I still don't know where it is. All I know is that it's in the bar in Kamino, which I think we all already know.”

 

I could almost laugh. Really? That was so…unbearably pathetic.

 

“Alright, where did the drinks you had at the USJ come from? And secondly, throwing a can at my head? You had the high ground- there’s no way you didn’t see me.”

 

So Shinsou was close to Sato during the attack, huh? No wonder he was so angry. Sato had all personally but put Shinsou’s life in danger.

 

“Turns out those weren't actually alcohol, despite the name. I threw it because I heard someone, and I was told no one would be around. They told me to keep my head down, that I would be safe. That no one would be around. And so when I heard someone, I panicked. I had a bad morning and was jumpy.

 

“Still dodging the question of where the drinks came from.”

 

“Odd thing to focus on. I got them from a regular store.”

 

“No, no, I’m fascinated to hear why Mr. “Scared out of his wits” stopped by a liquor store to buy beer on the day he knew his classmates were going to be attacked.”

 

Now Kirishima was joining in as well. But I think they got it all wrong. It was a weird thing to focus on. I get that they’re trying to prove that Sato wasn’t as scared as he said he was, but honestly, he could just as well have been terrified and tried to use alcohol as a coping mechanism to get rid of his guilt. The alcohol itself proves nothing. …he’s still a git, though.

 

“I don't even know what really happened, but that morning I woke up and something happened to me. It's hard to explain, but that messed me up. Didn't help that I then had an encounter with a mugger on my way to school. At that point, I just needed a fucking drink. Why is this what we’re focusing on?”

 

Yes, please talk about literally anything else. Pleaseeee.

 

“Because we have it on good authority that you sat around drinking alcohol while the League of Villains put your classmates into a perilous situation!”, Yaoyorozu stood up and started to walk towards the front as well, backing up Kirishima. “Those around you were in the hospital, Sato. Hagakure, James, myself! We ended up in life threatening conditions because of your actions! The others fought for their lives not knowing if they’d live to see the end of the day because of YOUR actions!”

 

Kirishima’s voice was solemn. “Kids were in the hospital, Sato. You put them there.”

 

“The fuck was I meant to do?! Not only am I in the body of Sato, who’s not exactly the strongest, but if I did even the slightest thing against the League, Sato’s parents would die. Do you not fucking get that? People would be killed if I did even the slightest thing against them.”

 

Once again, my classmates focused on the wrong thing, repeating the frankly moronic advice of “fight.” Listen, Sato’s an idiot and possibly the worst spy of all time, but he cannot two for one Shigaraki and Kurogiri. 

 

“You proceeded to throw caution to the wind and forfeit the lives of everyone in this room and the room down the hall and you won’t give any of us a reliable answer! What good is telling us this now? In fact why tell us this now if the same risk and consequence is to fall on those you hold dearest to you?!”

 

Yes! Go, Yaoyorozu! Finally focusing on something meaningful! What is the point of telling us all this now? You still gave up your parents because of your own cowardice, and now you’re throwing yourself at our feet and begging for our mercy? Pff, Nedzu probably has something calculated. And if not…they’re fucked. Sorry~

 

“You’re still trying to spin this fucking bullshit to avoid owning up to your own actions because you’re too cowardly to just tell us the goddamn truth.” 

Kirishima’s voice was ice. None of us had seen him like this before. 

 

“You think I don't know all of that? Yeah, I fucked up! Yeah people got hurt because of me! But what part of the word hostages don't you understand! Do you have parents, Kirishima? What would you do if they would die the moment you spoke the wrong way! I know I fucked up, I dont need you to tell me that!”

 

“Then you killed them now, Sato, to save your own fucking skin. And that’s probably the saddest part of all of this- if you are telling the truth, by some miracle? You haven’t learned a goddamn thing.”

 

“The League already took them! That's why I'm doing this now! Because they need help! Because one more slip up from me and innocent people will die!”

 

They. Are. Dead. Anyway. If you are telling the truth THEY ARE DEAD ANYWAY. Did you eat sugar before this? Because your IQ is not there.

 

“Hey, uh, so which is it? You couldn’t “slip up” at the Gamma Ambush or you have to slip up now? Because that seems pretty inconsistent from where I’m sitting.”

Even non-SIs like Ashido were getting in on the Sato roast session.

 

“Did you not listen to a word I said? I already slipped up during the festival! Something as minor as using Body Bulk caused Sato’s parents to be taken, what would have happened if I did actively disobey them? I'm already taking a risk telling you lot this, if the League finds out I'm doing this it's game over! And im in way over my head, and can’t fucking keep doing this shit! I didn't ask for any of this shit, I don't want this!”

 

“If you didn’t want this then why take such a nonchalant approach?! Why refer to supposedly groundbreaking evidence as ‘blips’? Why think so loosely of the lives and wellbeing of the other individuals who live in this world you’ve fallen into? Don’t you dare chalk the consequences of your actions up to accidents and ignorance, Sato. I’m astounded that even though you’re blessed in such a way to know about this world, you could act so thoughtlessly and ridiculously! … H-how dare you insult our intelligence like this!”

 

And we all know that Yaoyorozu absolutely despises having her intelligence insulted. Especially by a filthy traitor. 

 

“What, was I supposed to just let Sato’s parents die? What part of that don't you all understand! I. couldn't. Act. Against. The. League. If I did, people would die. If I don't, then there was at least a chance. Was it a good choice? No, but I didn't have much better. But none of that even matters now!”

 

“If your parents are in such a precarious situation… As I said earlier- Why act so carelessly?! To act on such impulse and with such disregard in the way you conducted yourself in your time here? Tired or no. Worried or no… H-how could you overlook the fact that the choices you made, including this one, would have disastrous consequences for your loved ones, Sato?!”

 

“Do you want the list in fucking alphabetical or chronological order? I'm heavily autistic, I'm a fucking idiot, and I've been off my meds for at least a month now! I’m so fucked in the head that I struggle to think things through on a good day, let alone when this far in over my head!”

 

Oh boo hoo, you’re heavily autistic. The way Sato’s framing this, it’s like his autism made him nearly kill like fifty people. Whoops! I tripped and betrayed an entire school! Autism!

 

“Then you should have gone to someone! You’re in over your head because of your own choices, Sato. Nobody else’s. And again, the fact that you can’t tell the truth- that you’re doing all this to save your own skin, and to hell with the rest of us? Genuinely, it sickens me that you won’t even fucking own up to it. If your parents have been in danger this whole time, there’s a myriad of things you could have done to even mitigate the danger slightly for us- and you didn’t do them. Your story doesn’t check out.”

 

Yes, that is the main thing. His story simply just doesn’t make any sense. Like why you would use your “scary control quirk” that’s lingering “under your skin” in a freaking SPORTS FESTIVAL?

 

“What the fuck are you on about! I have said I fucked up! I know it's my fault! I haven't denied that! If I only cared about myself, I would have done this a long time ago! As soon as Sato’s parents are safe I plan to take a swan dive off the damn roof! I dont give a rat's ass at this point, it's them I'm worried about!”

And you still want to kill the original Sato? When we know for sure that if someone’s SI is removed the canonical character comes back? The others weren’t taking this much better. At least I was still being somewhat observant. I listened to them vent one after the other. Their anger. Their hatred. Their fear.

 

Kirishima. Our class president who’s red hair was only contrasted by his icy gaze. “You said you fucked up and then spun us a bullshit story that you still haven’t recanted! I haven’t even gotten to you “accidentally” using the quirk All for One gave you, but the point stands: your actions are your own fault!”

 

Yaoyorozu. The most prominent non-SI, thrust into chaos as her world was taken over not only by strangers, but a traitor. “Your actions got so many hurt and so many more pushed to the brink… What’s more, you’re going to take the life of an individual who didn’t ask for any of this when you’re done. Your actions have consequences; why did it take you so long to realize that?”

 

Kaminari. He was always a goofy character canonically, but now he was dead serious. I was almost scared that he was going to discharge his quirk. “You're a pathetic excuse for a person. You talk a big game about being guilty, about all of that and it's all just bullshit. We all know that. You were fucking drinking in a tree. That's not guilt. Quit your bullshit and fuck off.”

 

Aizawa cut everyone off before we started going full vigilante justice. “But we will be giving you help regardless, Sato, and investigating your story in the meantime. Kirishima, Yaoyorozu; back to your seats.”

 

I have to mention something, though. Sato’s an idiot, and this should probably be looked into, at the very least. “…I don’t think he’s lying about Sato’s parents, though. We should…probably place some attention on that.”

 

“I hate to be that guy, well not really, but what the hell do you expect us to do about it?”

 

Franco made a good point, but still, we’re at least in training. If needed we could probably gather a lot of help.

 

Iida continued on, seemingly not even replying to me. “We're in the body of 16 year olds, we can't legally do shit here, you could have gone to the principal, hell, didn't you have mandatory meetings with him and Hound Dog? Why not tell either of them?”

 

“Honestly? I don't expect any of you guys specifically to do anything, call me paranoid but I'm worried someone was going to shank me in the hallway after the festival. I’m going to talk to Nedzu after this, I'm sure. He’s the one who can do anything.”

 

Oh don’t worry, someone probably will. Shank you, I mean. Especially after this. I hope the more trigger-happy ones at least cool it long enough for Nedzu to handle everything.

 

“If you’ll follow me, we’ll be discussing this with him right now. Midnight, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, you’re in charge.” 

 

Aizawa stands up, opening the door and preparing to lead Sato away.

 

“Many of you have your names and home address in the local phone book. I haven't told Shigaraki about that, and I have no intention to.”

 

My blood ran cold at that. Ochako’s parents. I couldn’t-not after all…why. Why did it have to be like this? I’m sorry, Ochako…I’m so sorry. 

 

“Even if Sato’s telling the truth and doesn’t say a word, Shigaraki could just use a phone book…”

 

Ochako is silent. The class is silent.

 

“So! Hero names!”

 

Midnight smiles at Ashido, clearly relieved. “Yes. Let's continue the lesson. Now, how do you think the system of hero names came to be…”

 

Lunch was a relief. While the system of hero names was all well and good class content, the class couldn’t exactly just go back to normal after a bombshell like that. Even Midnight’s heart didn’t seem to be fully in it. Now, everyone was going to be going to the teachers, who probably already knew, and each other. I was going to find someone in-between. Someone who was definitely more skilled than I was, but who I could still talk to without worrying that it would make its way to Nedzu. Oh, who am I kidding, it was going to get there anyway.

I milled around aimlessly after getting a tray of food before spotting a shock of yellow hair. No, not Kaminari. He already knew, obviously. I walked over, doing my best to blend in with the rest of the lunch crowd.

 

“Hey, Togata-senpai.”

 

The upperclassman waved. He looked happy to see me, but I think he looked happy to see everyone.

“Oh hey, Uraraka! How have you been? Sorry for not congratulating you sooner, you see. I was busy with my own Sports Festival.”

I smile at him. His cheerfulness was infectious, which was probably the point.

“Thank you, senpai. But I didn’t want to talk to you about the festival. Uhm…I’d like some advice, actually. It’s kind of embarrassing, so can we talk in private?”

Mirio quickly agreed, and before long we were having lunch in a small empty study room. 

“Right, so the whole embarrassing advice bit was bs, don’t worry. What I wanted to say was that the UA traitor has been found. Sato came up in front of the whole class today when we were choosing hero names and confessed.”

Togata’s face clouded over with concern.

“The UA traitor? That was…the one responsible for the Gamma forest attack.”

I nod. “Yeah, that’s him. He’s been taken away by Aizawa-sensei.”

Togata’s face was unusually serious.

“Uraraka, listen to me, okay? This is very important.”

I nod again, hanging on to his words.

“Don’t do anything rash and leave him to the school, ok? Sato’s already put enough people in danger.”
I considered it. I was positive that someone in our class was probably going to jump him anyway, but it wasn’t going to be me.

“Yeah. I don’t want to deal with his second quirk…even if you weren’t at the festival you’ve definitely seen clips.”

Mirio gave me a thumbs up. 

“Right. Remember, don’t do anything dangerous. And try not to worry. Nedzu and the teachers have it all under control.”

I nod, “I was also wanting some advice about internships? I don’t want to choose someone I’d regret, because I want to learn.”

“Oh right, it’s that time for first years!”, Mirio continued after seeing the confused look on my face, “Third years usually don’t choose an internship. It’s usually better to establish yourself! Anyway, I’d say to choose one or two things you want to learn, and then pick the agency from there, especially since you have so many choices!”

The bell rang.

“Oop, that’s my cue. Can’t be late to class.”

I wave for a bit before turning away, heading back to the classroom that was now missing one student.

 

 

After class was finally over for the day I was wandering the halls looking for someone in particular. You see, Class B also ended class at the same time we did, so he should be somewhere around here. 

 

…Speak of the devil. I saw him as I rounded a corner. Kosei Tsuburaba.

 

I bounced up to him, making a point to be friendly. If my theory was correct, and I was pretty damn sure it was, he would need it. 

 

“Hi! You’re the…Sports Festival guy, right? The one with all the shenaniganery?”

 

He visibly flinched. “Gh-! Sheesh, where’d you come from? (visibly a little annoyed, but also resigned) But… Yeah, that’s me. What do you want…?”

 

Ok, don’t be a dick, just get straight to the point. 

 

“Well, I was wondering how you did it!” I made sure to smile widely.

 

“Did what? Make myself look like an idiot? Sorry, that’s- Ugh, I’m just really tired, that’s all. Things have been… Annoying lately. A really persistent headache.”

 

Yeah, it was a good idea to be straightforward, looks like he needed it. 

 

“Um, since I’m a normal haunted, I was wondering how to let the other person control the body? Since, you know, it was kind of hers first.”

 

“You’re an SI? And wait, haunted??”

 

Ah right, he was Class B and didn’t run in the same circles as people like Kendo and Yanagi that Kirishima was close to. I thought vocabulary just…performed osmosis through the two classes, but I guess not. 

 

“Random terms Kirishima came up with. Haunted means that I’m here but Ochako’s, like, still there in the back of my mind”, I explain

 

“Huh, for real? Man, I guess it’s a good thing you seem pretty chill, then. If my SI had full control of my body, I’m not sure I’d still be attending UA for whatever reason. She seems really intent on-”, he paused, slapping himself in the face all of a sudden. “Fuck! Doing stuff like-”, he managed to catch a second attempt, “This! Ugh.”

 

If I…I reached out and tapped him. “This…might help? Zero Gravity also works as kind of an…immobilizer?”

 

“I really hope she doesn’t try to get me airborne. Whatever. Thanks for the help, at least. Assuming it does…”

 

“So…how do you do it? Or her, I guess.”

 

“Hell if I know, and honestly, hell if she does either. If she does know, I doubt she’d tell me. She was crowing about having been “trying all day” at the Festival, and like, my joints and eyes were super tingly and itchy. That’s a tell tale sign she’s up to something, plus my vision going screwy”, he sighed, “Look, dude, I have no clue how to express this but I am… honestly so fucking jealous, not gonna lie.”

 

At this point I think Tsuburaba would be jealous of literally anyone, but I still kind of felt bad. 

 

“Yeah, sorry to bother you, just..wanted her to at least be able to get part of her own body back. And it would also be pretty useful for combat!”

 

“I guess having double the reflexes might be a boon. It’s just like-”, he suddenly broke off his train of thought and put his hands on my shoulders. 

 

“Dude. Dude, do you know how many bad nicknames she calls me all day, every day. I can’t get any decent sleep because she’s always singing some stupid song that gets stuck in my head. I faceplanted twice on my way up to the podium while I was announcing my Hero name in class, and then she tried to make me slam my head into it, and when I stopped myself, I just hit my head on the blackboard. She keeps trying to trip me every time I take so much as ten steps! I went to lunch a few days ago and she tried to sear my hand on one of the hibachi grills! I could barely eat there without someone else feeding me and she was so weird and invasive and creepy about it! She wants me to kiss my best friends and doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the words “I am straight”! 

Why is he shaking me? Why is…help? How is he getting even faster? 

 

“I don’t know how much longer I can handle this, man! You’d better use this knowledge for good because FUCK, I do not want anyone else suffering what I have to! I’m losing my FUCKING MIND!” 

 

He lets go abruptly, realizing that he just grabbed a random girl and started shaking her. “Crap! S-Sorry, dude, didn’t mean to vent at you.”

 

“No worries, you sound like you’re getting possessed by a freaking demon, not another person. You should…I don’t know, go to the principal, probably. Someone like Midnight could help you sleep, Recovery Girl probably has some quick fixes for most injuries..but it sounds like she’s trying to KILL you.”

 

“No, I don’t think she’d kill me… If I’m dead, she doesn’t have someone to pick on anymore. She’s definitely reckless enough to do it by accident, though”, he manages to dodge another slap, “I’m getting wise to your tricks, you little shit.”

 

I think the Midnight suggestion could at least have some use. Instant quirk-induced sleep. Even an S/I probably couldn’t resist, and there would be staff supervision if anything went wrong. 

 

“The hibachi thing is really dangerous, though. So uh, SI-girl, stop that if you don’t want to kill him. I’m still curious about how she figured out how to do it…god knows I could use a rest. Or an extra pair of eyes. Apparently she can see like, 360 degrees?”

 

Tsuburaba stifled a yawn. “I assume you’re talking about yours. Mine can only see my field of vision.”

 

Ok, back on track. “So to sum it up, just have the real Ochako keep trying and watch for any “itchy” or “tingling” feelings?”

 

“Yeah, I guess. If she is like, haunting you like a ghost, maybe she could like, overlay herself on you like ghosts possessing people in the movies”, he wiggled his fingers like a ghost before chuckling. 

 

“She’s already kind of overlaid on me? It’s hard to explain…” 

 

It was hard to explain. I knew she was there, she was in my body but she couldn’t control it. The only irregularity otherwise was the ability to turn her field of vision. 

 

“Well, when you figure it out, I don’t suppose you could let me know how to do the opposite and install some parental controls on my bodily autonomy to keep this overgrown toddler from touching them?”

 

At Tsuburaba calling his S/I an overgrown toddler, I realize that this SI-girl was probably older than him. Oh…

 

I shrug, not really sure what to say either. “I just kind of…spawned in with them installed. So now I have to do stuff like try and win the Sports Festival so her parents can get more work by proxy by myself.”

 

For what it’s worth, he did try to be encouraging. As encouraging as one could be when he’s probably running on no sleep and being possessed by a demon. “Huh… Good luck with that. Like, for serious, I know I sound super grumpy, but you did win first place, yeah? That must’ve done something.”

 

“I hope so…I still haven’t told them that I’m not actually their kid, so I’m just…larping now, I guess”, I shrug. Ochako didn’t approve of the way I handled that, but that was a problem for future me. 

 

“Oh well, see you around!”

 

“See you, uh… Uraraka, right?”

 

I nod and wave. “Yep! Well, my name is Sam, if that helps.”

 

“Well, I’m Kosei Tsuburaba, and my SI is named Peachy, if you care. See you later.”

 

Oh fuck, I forgot to disab-a loud rattling crash from down the hallway. Yep. I did. Fuck. 

 

“Ah, I’m sorry! Let me just get you down!” 

 

I tapped my fingers together. Release.

 

School was kind of tiring Tuesday as well. The atmosphere was notably different now that Sato had confessed, and the news had definitely spread to Class B, because a few of them were acting extra paranoid today too. I probably audibly sighed in relief when the day was over, but instead of heading home, I went to a nearby cat cafe. I heard about it from a Class C girl while in the lunch line, and even if the food was bad, at least there would be cats.

I squint up at the sign. “Nyafii Cat Café.” Worth a shot. I push the door open as the bell jingles, and I’m pleasantly surprised. The building was bigger than I expected, about as big as what a Starbucks would look like back home. It’s not too busy or empty either, a few other clientele and many, many cats. Well, I should order something before I get my hands too dirty with petting all the cats. 

 

“Um…one strawberry cream puff please. Oh, wait, you don’t mind if I get a drink? Ok, one regular bubble tea as well with half sugar, thank you.”

 

The boy at the counter turned to me. “Oh! Greetings, though I didn’t catch what you were saying. Could you repeat that?”

 

Oh, I caught Kuroiro at a bad time. It’s ok though, I can be patient.

 

“One strawberry cream puff and one regular bubble tea with half sugar. So this is where you work?”

 

“Yes, the almighty feline shall reign supreme.”

 

Ok, right. He’s a chuuni. It’s okay, it’s alright. I can channel my inner Fischl.

 

I look away from his eyes. It’s disconcerting as hell staring back at someone who basically only has his eyes as a focal point. “Yeah, it’s complete bs how the cat isn’t part of the Chinese Zodiac. Glad you’re working on restoring it to its rightful place-first!”

 

See? Like that. That was cringe, but good cringe.

 

The boy laughs and leans forward slightly into the counter. “As they rightfully should stand! Rats have no place in this establishment nor the Zodiac.”

 

Oh boy. You just opened a whole can of worms. I’m Chinese, and you have me talking about the Zodiac? 

“Right. The rat scammed the ox too. The whole legend about the rat hitching a ride on top of the ox and jumping off at the last second. Hey, I wonder if oxen and cats could team up and beat up mice together?” 

 

Even Kuroiro seems a bit confused at that. “All this talk about cats, rats, and oxen… do you harbor a secret love for astrology?”

 

“Isn’t that, like, the study of stars? Wait, no, that’s astronomy. Never mind. So why did you try and kick Iida in the nuts?”

 

Ok, I can explain. I was rambling and I wanted to stop rambling. So I blurted out the first topic that came to mind. And, you know, I’ve been watching a bunch of viral Sports Festival clips lately…

 

Kuroiro snorts and brings a hand up to his face. Sorry dude, my train of thought is off the rails today. “Well-”, he barely squeaks out, “I didn’t actually think people in the audience were able to tell… or care much after the two matches that followed mine.”

What does he mean “people wouldn’t be able to tell”, it’s literally clipped. There’s a short form video of the moment set to what was this universe’s version of phonk. 

 

“Well, good luck with that cause Present Mic literally yelled it out and that 100% made it onto national television! So now you’re “that one guy that kicks people in the nuts” just like I’m “that one girl who fights like a kindergartener.”

 

Kuroiro just stares at me for a moment, processing this. I mean, dude. You had the forethought to throw in the Sports Festival yet you kick someone in the nuts and don’t think you’re going to be known for that?

 

“I, umm,” he pauses for a few more seconds. “Iida seemed too uptight a fighter. I think he could learn a lesson in fighting underhanded… or under-crotched.”

 

“Ohhh, so that was the real reason”, I say the next part quieter, “Was that also why you threw?”

 

Kuroiro blinks, his trademark grin almost gone.

“Oh. Impressive for being able to tell,” he crosses his arms, “but I threw for different reasons.” 

And…it’s back. No surprises there.

 

I look away again. Why is it so hard to meet his gaze? Maybe it’s because I always want to stare directly at his teeth… “It’s not t-that impressive. I was on the podium, I could tell Shinso didn’t want to be there. And you placed first in round two…”

 

Kuroiro laughs slightly, raising an eyebrow. At least I think so. It’s hard to tell.

“You must pay close attention to me, hmm?”

 

I sigh, idly fidgeting with a lock of hair. “You were first in round two, it’s kind of hard to miss that. Especially when so many others didn’t make it.” 

 

“Well, that round’s point system was rigged against everyone involved anyway. I just made the opposite mistake compared to the others who didn’t make it.”

 

Wait, who was I with for that event again? I know Kirishima was the leader, so there had to be Kendo as well…who else? Oh, right. Zero Gravity min-max strat. Yanagi.  

 

“Did my team…yeah, everyone in our team made it. The downside is that apparently we’re part of Kirishima’s harem now?”

 

This man’s mouth was wide open.

“You noticed it too!? It’s getting out of hand, I swear at least 3 of my classmates are wrapped around his Rocky fingers.”

 

Ugh, yeah. Kirishima is just friendly, why can’t everyone see that… 

“Everyone online noticed too, it’s kind of embarrassing…maybe not for someone like Kendo who actually likes him.”

 

Kuroiro paused, seeming suddenly curious. “Oh, then who do you like?” 

 

“I-um…I don’t know…in canon I was a fan of Tokoyami, but now they’re also an isekai…”

 

Even admitting that I once simped for the literal bird dealt a tragic blow to my mental health, and I barely picked up Kuroiro’s response.

 

 “I-I see…”

 

One of his coworkers (she was in the same uniform), appeared suddenly with my order. “Oh my god, again?! This is the third time this week you’re flirting with a customer…”

 

Oh, right. It’s probably not good for Kuroiro to be chatting on the job. I swap back to canonical cheerfulness, picking up my order from Saionji’s hands to reassure what was probably his manager. “Oh, it’s nothing like that, ma’am. We’re schoolmates! Sorry for holding him up.”

 

Kuroiro stands back up straight. “Yes, sorry Saionji,” he sighs, turning to you. “Seems I need to step back. Bye?”

 

I wave back. “Right, see you at school! Release!” I catch my order. Somehow I had managed to make it float without even realizing. 

 

The food was…really good, actually. I idly watched the counter. It was satisfying seeing everyone move surprisingly in sync for being minimum wage workers. As I was finishing up the last bits of what remained of my cream puff, I was startled by a sudden presence in my lap.

 

“Oh…it’s a cat. Hey, little dude!”

 

The cat was a calico, which meant it was very likely to be female. She was currently settling down in my lap, softly making biscuits on my legs. I set down my fork, finally done with my food, and reach out to gently stroke her soft fur.

 

“This is nice…I miss my cat, Chako.”

 

I felt a mental stirring as Ochako realized I was talking to her.

 

“Oh, right. You mentioned! What’s his name?”

 

I smile to myself. “His name is Boba. He’s a good boy.”

 

The calico cat on my lap purred, rubbing her face against my hand.

 

“Ugh…it’s a shame I can’t pet you more. I’m going to be all icky. My eyes are gonna be red and scary and I’m going to act like I’m sick.” I pet the cat more vigorously. “That’s right, I’m going to be sick, you’re gonna make me sick! But you’re so cute…”

 

While I was rambling, I had been aware of a quiet buzzing in my head. Now, I realized it was Uraraka trying to get my attention. 

 

“Sorry, I was busy being stupid. What’s up?”

“Oh, it’s nothing!”, she smiled. “I was just going to say that I’m actually not allergic to cats, so we can stay here a bit longer!”

This. Was. Huge. I had almost completely forgotten about the implications of having a different body. In my defense, it was close enough most of the time, and I had been hyperfocused on training the main difference, Ochako’s quirk. I purposely rubbed my eye. Sure enough, nothing. If I wasn’t allergic to cats, then…then what else could I do now? One thing was for sure, though, I was no longer a sickly young girl, at least here. Better enjoy this reality while it lasts, because whether through me going back or the inevitable war looming on the horizon…oh honey, there was a big storm coming.

 

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly. When I wasn’t busy with school and homework, I was consumed by the unforgiving void of internship offers. I had received a whopping two thousand eight hundred and sixty-six offers. I didn’t even know there were that many offices in Japan!

The number wasn’t the issue, however, oh no no no. I had decided pretty early on that I was going to choose someone in the top ten. They were the best of the best for a reason, and I could get a well-rounded internship experience no matter who I chose. 

Keigo Takami. Wing Hero: Hawks. The current number three, to be number two. A seemingly lackadaisical guy, but genuinely valued his hero work. I didn’t think I could deal with him, though. In canon, I remember that Tokoyami mostly just worked with his sidekicks since Hawks was too quick. As for me, with Zero Gravity I don’t have the kind of raw mobility he does, and even with my grappling hook, I definitely couldn’t catch up with him. 

Shinya Kamihara. Ninja Hero: Edgeshot. A serious guy, and a good shot if I wanted to roleplay as a kunoichi. If I intern with him and I isekai within an isekai to Naruto…but other than that he seems like a good dude. I know he was close to Mount Lady, which means he’s patient. He’ll need to be patient to fix all of my screw ups.

Lion Hero: Shishido. I didn’t know his real name or anything, I must have not gotten far enough in the series. Still, his quirk probably has something to do with his hero name, right? Maybe it’s like Miruko’s Rabbit or Asui’s Frog. 

They’re all mobility-focused pros, obviously, but they have different niches. Hawks is pure mobility, where he gives up offense and stealth to outmaneuver his opponents. Edgeshot is stealth mobility, where he is fast but focuses on tricks and taking out his opponents quickly. Shishido…I don’t know much about him or his fighting style, but his name makes me think of a combination of strength and speed. 

What was Mirio’s advice again? Something like choosing what specifically you want to learn and choosing the hero from there? What did I want to learn? In canon Ochako had chosen Gunhead and focused on hand to hand combat…but that hadn’t been my style before, and it didn’t seem like it would become my style anytime soon. 

Hawks was out of the question. No matter how much I liked him as a character and a person, I was not enough of an idiot to think that he could care for any interns from U.A. beyond being a member of his cleanup and a source of intel, plus I couldn’t hit his speed or reach anywhere close to it even if I pushed my quirk to the limit. 

“Hey, who do you know better? As a character, I mean.”

It seemed like our run-in with the U.A. traitor had shaken Ochako up a little. That made sense. In canon, many in our class didn’t even believe there was a traitor after the attack and instead chose to believe in each other. Now the traitor was being revealed so dramatically, and much earlier as well. 

By asking me who I knew better, Ochako was asking me who I trusted more. And, if they dared to choose All for One, who I had the confidence to expose. Even out of two thousand and sixty six offers from agencies all over Japan, ultimately, there was only one real choice, wasn’t there?
I sigh, running my hands through my hair. 

“Looks like we’re becoming a ninja.”

 

Chapter 10: Edification

Summary:

In this episode...Sam becomes NINJA

Internship time internship time internship time! Time…to learn the way of the ninja. You know what, that didn’t sound as cool as it did earlier. It’s fine, this internship is going to be potentially a big canon divergence, a testament to this universe’s willingness to embrace free will. And by that I mean I’m going to learn a new fighting style that’s completely different than canon! This is also going to be my first look into pro hero life…I have a head start with the sports festival, but a lot could go wrong. I have to do my best! Woo!

 

Train time! I wonder if zombies will show up. Nah, that’s the wrong universe. I paused in my steps as I explained what that meant to Ochako. Wait, breakfast! I grabbed a small bun and my bag before heading to the station Aizawa told us to wait at. I checked the time: perfect.

 

“Remind me why you wanted us to arrive at 7:45 again, Ochako?”

 

The girl in my head just smiled. “We can’t slack off just because we won the Sports Festival! I know everyone else is going to work hard, so we have to work just as hard!”

 

I grinned back. “Nah, we have to work harder.”

 

Still, we were pretty early. We were supposed to be here by eight. Even Kirishima wasn’t here yet. Aizawa was, though, and he was looking a lot more conspicuous than normal with what looked like a rolling shelf with a bunch of briefcases. 

 

There’s a good amount of banter, but nothing that you really tune in on until Aizawa cleared his throat. He’s still stuck as a woman, by the way. Guess he doesn’t really mind.

“I see everyone’s here.”

 

Mineta freaking salutes of all things, but it’s okay, because Aizawa continues. 

 

“Then we’ll get started. Before I set all of you loose on some heroes that no doubt deserve you and the chaos you represent, a few reminders. 

 

First of all, remember that while you’re on internships, you represent U.A., both through your actions and your words. I expect all of you to be polite to the heroes you’re interning with. 

Second, remember that you cannot legally wear your hero costumes until you get a license. If I hear of any of you- for any reason- wearing this costume without the express permission of your mentor…?”

 

“Expulsion?“, Kirishima wondered.

 

“Expulsion. Remember that these costumes are a privilege, not a necessity. Additionally, this year Principal Nedzu wants me to remind anyone that if their hero misrepresented their offer- be that the size of their agency, the skills worked on this week, or anything in between- you are to message me so we can sort that out before the whole week passes you by. Is that clear?”

 

The class, led by Franco, agreed. 

 

“And fourth and finally…have fun.”

 

Ashido shuddered, “It sounds terrifying when you say it!”

 

Iida warns everyone about Stain, Midoriya unironically uses “caught slacking”, Mineta is being delusional if he thinks any of us could take Stain at this stage in our character development, and Kirishima steps into his sensei Master Oogway role once again.  

 

“Be confident but not overly so, Mineta- the League of Villains is a silly name, but they’re bolstering their ranks with a few villains recently- particularly ones with a body count. Is everyone in the group chat?”

 

Yes, Kirishima, we’re all in the groupchat. And who unironically says “be confident but not overly so” like some sort of Jedi?

 

“Make sure to keep an eye on that this week and review the files I sent last Thursday. I don’t want anyone to be hurt because they’re not prepared.”

 

Right, files. I know what there is to know about these freaks, unless they get non-canon people in there. And if they do, well, we can’t do much anyway. 

 

Mineta’s still being a little optimist, bless his heart. Thinking we won’t run into the League again, pfft. With our luck, we’ll see them twice before dinner.

 

Attempts at informing Mineta quickly get sidetracked, and everyone goes to discussing whether the League also has self-inserts. Bakugo mentions that Geten is one, which is not great. His ice quirk seemed to be a really annoying fight in canon, even for Dabi who literally counters him.

 

Ashido also points out that even if there weren’t any more besides Geten, Sato was still a traitor and that meant the League knew basically whatever he did. Well, except our addresses and phone numbers, because golly gee, wasn’t he just so nice?

 

At least everyone seemed tired after all that yapping. 

 

“Can we go already?”, Kaminari looked at Aizawa blearily.

 

Fallia yawned, “What he said.”

 

“Alright. You’re all dismissed. Come and get your costumes; I expect all of you have your train details already. If you don’t or you’re coming back to U.A. with me, stand over here.”

 

Asui and Shinso followed. Shinso I knew was probably training under Eraserhead again like canon, but who was Asui choosing? She chose Selkie in canon, I’m pretty sure.

 

Minets grinned and did an awkward salute. 

“Let’s kick some butt and take some names!”

 

I perked up when Fallia pitched changing his costume as an idea to Mineta. Mineta himself winced at the reminder of his canon costume, but then swapped back to being a little optimist. 

 

“Hey, there’s no way it can be that bad up close.”

 

I chime in as I grab my own costume. “Might change mine as well.”

 

“Watch your backs, everyone, stay safe, and please don't end up on the news fighting some villain out of our league.”

 

Typical Iida, always being the team mom. It’s gonna happen, though.

 

“Listen, if it happens it happens. Knowing our luck, it will.”

 

See? Midoriya’s right. It’s gonna happen, just a question of when. Plus we’re extra vulnerable when split up…but then again we’re with actual pros, so whatever.

 

Hero internships? Check. Possible risk of messing everything up? Check? Constantly impending villainous doom? Double check. It was all kinda boring, especially since Class B wasn’t with us. There was someone I’d have wanted to see…

 

The train ride itself was uneventful, and before long, I was where I was supposed to be. Huh. For once I wasn’t horrifically lost. Thanks, Ochako, for having a sense of navigation better than a drunk rat. 

 

While Edgeshot’s agency looked big from the outside, it was also unassuming, with the only thing that even indicated I was at the right place being an inconspicuous sign. Alright, alright, this was it. I placed my hand on the doorknob, opened the door, and…

 

It was a normal office building, basically. I don’t know what I expected. A fruit ninja style dojo? I didn’t remember much about hero agencies canonically. I think I’ve only seen Nighteye’s. He had two sidekicks and Mirio, Bubble Girl and that centipede that took after after Nighteye died. But Edgeshot’s is a little busier, it looks like. There’s currently five people that I assume are sidekicks here, although there might be a few more that are currently out on requests.

 

But where’s Edgeshot himself? I glance around the room again and notice him standing near a wall, blending in with the shadows. He was probably supervising everyone’s work. 

 

I take a few more steps inside, not being able to shake off the feeling of having interrupted something. You know, the feeling when you’re slightly late for a class and everyone inside looks at you like you just murdered someone in cold blood? But this time I wasn’t even doing anything wrong, so I tried to force down my nerves and take a deep breath.

 

“Um, hello. I’m Ochako Uraraka, I think I’m supposed to be interning here?”

 

The pause that must have been only a second felt like forever, but…

 

“Oh, hey!”

“Saw you on TV!”

“Nice to have you here!”

 

Everyone’s voices were so encouraging. I could almost hear Ochako saying “see? There’s nothing to worry about.” I did my best to keep track of everyone’s faces: a young woman with waist-length blonde pigtails, a guy wearing a dark blue forehead protector a la Naruto, someone I couldn’t tell the gender of wrapped up in a dark red cloak…

 

Finally, Edgeshot himself stepped out of the shadows.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Uraraka-chan.”

 

I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I bow? Is there some kind of niche futuristic Japanese thing that I have to do? In the end, I just settled for a “nice to meet you as well.” Had to add the “as well” to be a bit more formal, you see?

 

The young woman piped up, “Ryo and Oni are on patrol. You can take Uraraka if you need, Kamihara.”

 

No honorifics? Well, she’s definitely not an S/I, so they must be close, since Edgeshot strikes me as the more formal type. 

 

Well, not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. At the mention of Edgeshot training me, I nodded eagerly. 

 

“Always ready to learn.”

 

We took an elevator to the training room. Now this is what I’m talking about! The training room could be accurately named a “dojo”, and it was peak . The flooring was basically fully Japanese, with a little bit of wood at the elevator exit, probably for people wanting to drop stuff off.

 

The walls were padded too, and probably soundproofed, at least slightly. No reason to have the poor office workers next door hear me getting chucked into it full-force after messing up a Zero Gravity trick later, right?

 

I suddenly realized I had lost track of my to-be teacher somehow. Jeez, this man traveled fast. Where was he? 

 

Luckily, there wasn’t any reason to worry, because Edgeshot soon returned, holding a kimono-looking thing with one of those waist-sashes to keep it in place. Ochako helpfully provided the actual names of both: yukata and obi. 

 

I flatten my bob before checking myself out in the mirror (of the changing rooms, duh, I’m not changing in front of Edgeshot). Huh, I kind of look like Temari. The black robes make me look edgier than I really am, but I kinda like it. 

 

The rest of the morning is spent training with Edgeshot in a similar manner as I did against Mirio before the Sports Festival. Re: basically playing tag against Edgeshot. Believe me, it is hard . Way harder than what I did in Agility Group. 

 

First, it’s one-on-one, and I can’t do stuff like jump Asui while she’s unprepared against an experienced opponent. Second, Edgeshot is fast. Even with my grappling hook to boost around the raised wooden rods in the floor and Zero Gravity mobility, it’s still not enough, and even with Ochako’s body, I’m very tired when Edgeshot calls a break for lunch.

 

Remember when I mentioned that there was a girl with waist-length pigtails? Well, her name is Mika, and she’s actually really nice! She was a big sports festival fan, the type to watch all three grades every year. She was a fan of Nejire, Shinso, and, well…me. So, between spoonfuls of miso soup and okayu, or rice porridge, Mika talked my ear off. I didn’t mind, though, it was nice to get some praise after the exhaustion that was this morning.

 

“So, did Kuroiro really kick Iida down there?”

 

I blush. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Present Mic said so over the announcements.”

 

Mika laughed, almost to herself, before going on another rant about some specific Zero Gravity technique that I honestly barely remember consciously doing.

 

After lunch, Edgeshot handed me off to Mika and the others to go patrol his usual route along with ninja headband and red cloak. It was a little upsetting that I couldn’t go on patrol with them, but to be fair, I was still really tired after training. Maybe he saw that and didn’t want me to be dead weight? No, that’s not his style, plus I’d be useless anyway, I’m an intern. He probably didn’t want me to be hurt if anything actually dangerous happened. That makes more sense.

 

In case I didn’t mention it enough, the sidekicks were really very kind. Besides ninja headband and red cloak, who were currently out on patrol, there were the two I didn’t mention earlier, a woman with short lavender-colored hair and another woman with what looked like a spider mutation quirk. There was Ryo, a man with very spiky hair wearing a blue biker jacket and Oni, a masked woman with small red horns on her head. And of course there was Mika. 

 

You would think office, secretary work at hero agencies would be boring. And you would be wrong. With Edgeshot being a top-ten ranking hero and well-established as is, there was access to technology that I couldn’t dream of back home. Of course, this was still My Hero Academia and not some bullshit sci-fi world, but still. There were actual holograms. HOLOGRAMS! 

 

This may just be the novelty factor talking, but I don’t want to live until the day when I’m bored by hologram computers. Being used to do office work! Just the battery advancements that this implies are absolutely staggering…

 

The actual office work itself isn’t particularly tedious either. Noticing my obvious excitement, everyone works hard together helping me learn the ropes, letting us finish up early.

 

I’m up at a school hour for more training, though. Still the same exercise, still don’t seem any better at it. This time, I start as “it”. I don’t manage to tag Edgeshot once. Even though I can tell he’s holding back with his quirk, I can still barely even register that he’s somewhere before he’s already gone. 

 

Of course, that means still no patrol for me. Instead of making me sick, now Zero Gravity just makes me tired. I sneak in a quick nap and go back to the rise and grind. It’s not bad, making small talk with Mika and Ryo as they banter. But still. Was I going to improve fast enough to patrol along with Edgeshot? I want to pick up some big things before internships end. I know our peaceful days here are numbered.

 

Jeez, that sounded really ominous. I know, Ochako. I didn’t mean to sound like an anime heartthrob either. Anyway, if there’s one plus to interning here, the food is really good. I’m a sucker for simple Japanese fare, and Edgeshot’s hero agency seems happy to provide me with all the ramen and udon and soba and okayu and sushi I can eat.

 

On the third day of internships, Edgeshot gave to me: a chance to patrol with him! I managed to almost tag him during training today, and I wasn’t as drained as I was during the first two days. I got dressed up in my hero costume: Ochako’s canon costume except with a grappling hook in my right sleeve and a pink visor instead of a helmet. 

 

I mentioned wanting to change my costume again to…Mineta, I think? It was because I hadn’t considered a hero name yet when I had Hatsume modify it all that time ago. This costume was built for Uravity. But now? Now, I was the Cosmic Hero: Gravitas.

 

After being de-ninja-fyed for the first time in days, I was ready to protect the city. Edgeshot was Edgeshot, of course. He was still a cool ninja. The city itself was what you’d expect. It seemed pretty safe: Edgeshot wasn’t particularly tense from what I could tell, and he clearly knew the area very well. 

 

I decided to ask him what’s been on my mind recently. “So, any ideas on how I should improve? Training’s been challenging.”

 

The man barely needed to think about it. “Make it less obvious when you’re about to strike. Don’t use your quirk as a crutch.”

 

Had I-wait, yeah. I had been using Zero Gravity way too standardly lately. Not in the less conventional way that won me the Sports Festival. Obviously I still have to focus on improving technique, but for now…that’s right. I can’t use my quirk as a crutch. I have to be unpredictable even without it! And, as if the universe itself was mocking my thoughts, I barely registered the feeling of my body traveling through the air before the dull, constant pain of impact.

Chapter 11: Affliction

Summary:

Oh shit oh shit oh shit

Ow…what the fuck? This was Edgeshot’s normal route, who exactly was it that found us? My vision unblurs somewhat, and I see…Magne. The pressure didn’t let up. She was currently, ow, pushing me into the side of a building…I think it was a store? 

 

“Found you both quicker than I was expecting- guess the boss’s intelligence was pretty good, huh.”

 

Edgeshot leaped into action to stall Magne while the civilians fled the scene. It was fine, Magne likely wasn’t targeting them anyway, since she mentioned she was looking for us specifically. The two of them struggled to deal any real damage- Magne’s attacks didn’t do any real damage to Edgeshot when he was using Foldabody, while Edgeshot was quick but often interrupted by the various magnetic fields Magne was likely using.

 

Ah, fuck, might as well say this since I can’t fucking move . 

 

“Magne’s quirk is being able to magnetize people based on their gender! But I think she got another one, because she shouldn’t be able to do this much…”

 

Magne swipes at Edgeshot, who easily dodges behind a pillar. “Ah-ah-ah, no spoilers, kid. Don’t worry, you’ll have your turn next.”

 

Wait, if Magne was specifically targeting us- not just Edgeshot, but me as well…

 

“Shit, are other people being targeted too?”

 

I feel the pressure on me get stronger.

 

“I said , no spoilers.”

Taking advantage of Magne’s distraction, Edgeshot flattens and twists his arm to try and grab Magne. However, he’s quickly thrown off-target by Magne’s quirk. It sucks, but there’s not much we can do. Even if I could move, Magne, especially her new quirk from what I’m guessing, just stalemates us. Besides that, I’m basically acting as Magne’s hostage, along with the few civilians still here. She’s been launching debris at people pretty randomly, and all Edgeshot can really do is protect them.

 

We stayed stalemated for a few minutes. I can’t do anything since I can’t move. Edgeshot can’t do anything because his speed is being messed with by the weird magnetism here and he needs to protect everyone. Magne can’t do anything because she needs to focus on keeping me still and Edgeshot at the same time. But eventually Edgeshot is gonna slip up, right? He’s gonna get tired or someone innocent is going to be hit and he’s not gonna be able to do anything and I can’t do anything and-

Two familiar figures dash out of an alleyway with the literal stuff of nightmares chasing them. 

“Neito? Pony? What?”

 

They’re clearly in full survival mode as Neito launches a horn at Magne’s leg while turning sharply to avoid a hit from the clearly high-end Nomu trailing them. It was something straight out of a nightmare. Pure darkness, strange slashes across its twisted body that revealed bulging sinew, and some strange kind of organic plating covering its body. Edgeshot takes this minute moment of distraction from Magne to attack her repeatedly. Magne is taken off guard for a moment before regaining her composure and ripping Edgeshot away. 

 

However…the pressure on me diminishes. I get up and immediately run towards Neito and Pony as fast as I can. I’m not an idiot, I have no chance against Magne even with Edgeshot, that’s the whole point of their plan. Targets…intel…they know our quirks.

 

“Neito, what quirks do you have?”

 

“Just Pony’s”, the blonde replies.

 

I hold out my hand. “Great, take mine. Nomu didn’t have any?”

 

I feel my hand in his as Neito quickly copies my quirk. “It did but too many to copy I guess.”

 

Okay, so the Nomu has more than three quirks. That’s not great for us.

 

“Edgeshot and I can’t do anything against Magne. Her quirks, think she got a new one from All for One, counter ours.”

 

I try to explain the situation, but Magne’s set her sights on them as well.

 

“Oh, I recognize you, kid. Guess I’m getting two for one tonight.” 

 

We can only process the staff Magne’s holding slamming into the ground before the men are launched one way and the women the other. Even during the chaos, I find it curious how the Nomu doesn’t seem to be affected at all.

 

Luckily for us, being heroes, whether in training or not and all that, we’re pretty used to being thrown around. Neito and Pony immediately launch a barrage of horns at Magne, while I launch my grappling hook at the edge of a building to gain distance, watching the Nomu apprehensively. The Nomu’s clearly very dangerous, and it doesn’t react to Edgeshot’s attacks at all. 

 

Magne easily neutralizes the barrage, slamming her hand into the ground to magnetize it and sticking the horns down.

 

Ah, shit. What the hell are we gonna do now?

“I think the only way we’re gonna get rid of this Nomu is Zero Gravity! We don’t have the firepower!”

 

Unless Neito gets his hands on Magne’s quirk, but even then…without training and with Magne countering him…yeah, we need Zero Gravity.

 

Neito ignores me and throws some metal balls at Magne. It does nothing. And she slams her staff into me. Great. At least it’s her attacking me and not the Nomu. I can hear its screeching as it goes after someone blonde…was that Pony? Oh, nevermind, that was Neito, I saw him tapping Edgeshot. 

 

“Keep attacking its brain, it’ll heal the damage as soon as you stop to continue attacking!” 

 

I could hear what Neito said, but I was…pretty preoccupied.

 

“Ow! Fucking-”

 

I grab onto the staff and activate Zero Gravity on it. It’s fun being an annoying koala in any other circumstance, but I’m literally fighting for my life. Unfortunately for me, Magne can still hold onto the staff, and I get slammed into the ground once again. Twice. Fuck.

 

Neito and Edgeshot are trying to deal with the Nomu, while Pony stays back and provides support with horns. I can’t see how much damage they’re doing, though. 

 

“Fucking…Zero Gravity does literally nothing.”

 

Okay, for now I need to just keep Magne distracted while everyone else tries to deal with the Nomu. I land on the ground and try to yank the staff away from Magne, being careful to avoid giving her any opportunities to slam me into the ground again. 

 

In a rare moment of breathing room, I can see that the Nomu doesn’t look damaged at all. Granted, Neito and Edgeshot don’t look hurt either, but at this rate they will be. Change strategies!

 

“Well, Neito’s just wrong, then. Swap to Zero Gravity and get its ass!”

 

Neito’s trying to bait the Nomu closer to me, but he has Zero Gravity copied, unless it’s already been five minutes. Magne uses those few seconds I’m not completely focused on her to slam her staff into my face, knocking me back towards the Nomu. 

 

Ah, shit…shit! I can’t…think. My head hurts… It’s all I can do to not throw up since the world is spinning around me.

 

I register Neito’s voice. How did he get so close to me? “Swap opponents, Sako!”

Pony and Neito fall onto Magne as a unit. 

 

“Yeah!” Slightly more steady now, I try to bait the Nomu to swing at me before using Zero Gravity to “double-jump” away.

 

Neito touches Magne, probably trying to copy her quirk, but seems disoriented. Yeah, she definitely has an extra quirk. Magne takes the opportunity to bludgeon him, while Pony takes that chance to launch more horns. Neito and Pony seem to be fine. Now, this fucking Nomu. Even after I pulled that trick, it’s still too fast, which makes it way too risky for me to go in for a tag. I can’t take a single hit or else I’m at the very least down.

 

I hear the telltale crackle of electricity, I have no idea where it’s from, but at least it isn’t from this stupid Nomu. Edgeshot is all over the battlefield, supporting Neito and Pony one moment, baiting one of the Nomu’s strikes away from my head the next. 

 

Neito pushes with his staff before striking Magne with the palm of his hand, but Magne doesn’t seem too affected besides being a little off-balance.

 

“Ok, consider if we all just jumped the same person? This is taking a while. Pony, can you get us closer?”

 

Neito kicks Magne away. Edgeshot darts forward as well, trying to immobilize Magne for him. Alright, guess I’m getting ignored today. 

 

Edgeshot gets hit with Magne’s quirk, being launched away once again, while Neito- Neito! He’s down on the ground and disoriented, and there’s no way Edgeshot can get there in time to help-

 

“Sorry, kid, looks like you rolled poorly.” Magne raised her magnetic pillar, preparing to cave Neito’s head in.

 

The next few seconds are a blur. 

 

“Well, let’s see how fucking far anime regen goes.”

 

I leap forward, trying to take advantage of Magne’s distraction to tag her, or at least make her dodge away from Monoma. I dimly register horns latching onto her shirt as well. I can feel my leg get grabbed by the Nomu, but it’s fine. I just need to stay conscious.

 

“Fucking bitch. Finally.”

 

Pain. The Nomu uses its strength to slam my body into the ground over and over. My vision blurs, but Uraraka is there, inside my mind, keeping me awake and redirecting my focus to Magne, who is currently floating into the air. Magne floats upwards. Magne floats upwards! Yes!

A quick, slim figure- probably Edgeshot- follows Magne upward, attacking her relentlessly while she floats.

 

The triumph is somewhat dulled by the sharp pain I feel when trying to move one of my legs. “Ah…shit.” 

 

That’s definitely broken, I’m no medic but even I can tell- Neito’s hand in mine again. He replaces Magne’s first quirk with mine while Pony fires her horns at the Nomu’s brain yet again, the Nomu backhands her while sweeping the horns away- I can hear a sickening crack. 

 

The sharp ping of metal hitting the ground. Neito leaping up into the air, switching to Horn Cannon to steer himself. Hey, wasn’t his hero name Hermes?

 

It’s fitting.

 

The spell is broken just as suddenly. The Nomu lunging forward- the sound of Neito hitting ground- Neito and Pony’s respective counterattacks- oh, Neito had Zero Gravity active, that’s why the Nomu was floating…

 

I glanced up at where Magne was currently. She was…kind of high up there. I knew I should probably keep her suspended, wait until another pro hero arrives and takes her into custody. A straight drop from a surprisingly low height can hurt or even kill, but…I looked inside myself and felt no sympathy. She hurt me. And I will hurt her in turn. 

 

“ Bitch, ” I hiss at her, meeting her eyes. “Release.”

 

I tap my fingers together, ending Zero Gravity’s hold over the magnetic woman’s body. Magne shouts, but she’s trying to use her magnetism to minimize her injuries as she falls. However, Edgeshot’s unceasing attacks are finally starting to wear her down. It’s simple- while the hulking monolith of the Nomu rises, Magne falls. 

 

She hits the ground with a loud crack. Something’s definitely broken. Good . 

Edgeshot lands lightly next to her, poised to attack again if necessary. 

“Surrender now, villain.”

 

“I can’t- I can’t feel my legs. I can’t fucking move! You fucking bitch!”

 

I felt a sick satisfaction in seeing the person who had tormented us- tried to kill us specifically, launched debris at civilians without regard- reduced to this.

 

Neito’s hand once again. Refreshing the timer for my quirk, probably. “Paralyzed..?”

 

“Hopefully…are you okay, Neito?” 

 

I could hear him wheezing a bit. I was exhausted too, but he took a few worse hits than I did.

 

He nods. “For now. Should we call an ambulance for her or something..?”

 

An ambulance? Isn’t it very likely that there are multiple villain attacks?

 

“Fucking- you call yourself heroes? You fucking paralyzed me!”

 

It’s kind of funny, in a poetic sense- we can’t call emergency services for Magne due to her own actions. The other villain attacks happening that she’s likely connected to led to her losing her own healthcare.

 

“Are there even emergency services? We’re not the only attack.”

 

Neito didn’t seem to be too concerned about her either, shrugging before responding. “To be fair, we’re not heroes yet and you’re also attacking children.”

 

He tilts his head, silent for a few seconds before continuing. “You’re-”, he coughs yet again, “You’re not really in a position to make moral judgements.”

 

“I’m a fucking villain. You’re supposed to be better.”

 

What was obviously Kurogiri’s portal appears underneath her and her face twists into a relieved smile.

 

“Guess my ride’s here. See you later, ‘heroes’.”

 

Neito simply waves, turning to me to refresh Zero Gravity again. It was over. All we had to do was wait.

Chapter 12: Quiescence

Summary:

The aftermath of the attack...there are so many attacks

Many people don’t remember what happens after a traumatic event. I remember every moment all too clearly. Neito and I sat, him with Zero Gravity still active, while the Nomu slowly floated. Up. Up. Up. It looked like a strange balloon, almost. The sharp pain in my leg was dulling to something more manageable, although that may just be because I wasn’t currently moving it. I craned my neck to see, but the darkness of the sky concealed even the hulking mass of the Nomu. 

It was another ten minutes before other heroes arrived. Actual professionals. Edgeshot went with them, probably to brief them about the situation and deal with any civilian or property damage. Neito, Pony, and I all were judged to be desperately in need of medical attention, and so, once again, I found myself in the hospital.

Before anything else, I called my- well, Ochako’s parents. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to at least make myself look presentable and not like I actually did- which was like I had a very broken leg and had just been flung into the wall and the floor multiple times. 

Riiing. Riiing. 

“Ochako? Ochako, are you alright? How are you doing? We’ve heard about the villain attacks, and we were so worried! Your mom figured out you would be targeted because of the Sports Festival, so when we heard from your agency that you had been attacked…we didn’t know what happened. We didn’t know how bad it would be.”

Really, I had no attachment to either of these people. And Ochako was still technically here, so there wasn’t really any point in telling them I wasn’t who they thought I was. And I did feel bad for them. I felt bad for making these strangers to me worry.

“Ah, mom! Dad! Please don’t worry too much about me, okay? Edgeshot fought his hardest to protect me! There won’t be any lasting damage, we have a teacher with a healing quirk, I’m just waiting for her to be available right now, since…there was a lot of damage.”

Was that good? Was that good, Ochako? I decided to parrot what she wanted to say next.

“What about you two? There was more than one villain. No one we knew besides my classmates were hurt, right?”

Ochako’s dad nodded.

“That’s right. One of our material shipments is missing due to collateral damage from a villain attack, but everyone we know is safe. Besides you, of course. Can you tell us what happened? If you don’t mind, of course. I don’t want to bring up any bad memories.”

I ran them through what had happened. Patrolling with Edgeshot. Magne’s ambush. Running into Neito and Pony. The Nomu. The fight. 

Her mom looked stunned as I mentioned the reason why my leg was broken. 

“This…this might not be the right thing to say, and obviously both your father and I would prefer if you weren’t hurt at all, but…I’m so proud of you, Ochako.”
Wait. Huh? I must have looked as shocked as I was, because she continued.

“You saved your classmate’s life. That’s…incredible. You’re going to become a great hero, Ochako.”

After some more platitudes were exchanged while I parroted what Ochako wanted me to say for the most part, we ended the video call. Ochako’s parents really wanted to visit in person, but hospitals were extremely understaffed, and even medical and nursing students were brought in. Plus, they had to deal with the company still, and their services were in high demand, especially after the amount of rebuilding the country that no doubt had to be done. 

Besides the obvious (lying about being their real daughter), there was one other thing that I was covering up from them. And that was the current state of my leg. To be honest, even though I had a strong stomach for gore, I knew enough to know that it did not look good. One: it looked like leg. That was good. Two: it was bending multiple directions. That was bad. The Nomu had really done a number on me. Magne had been powerful, but even the damage she had done when she bashed me into the ground still couldn’t compare to the Nomu. And it hadn’t even been my main opponent. 

My leg was mottled purple, yellow, and a sickly shade of green. It was bent sideways, resting on my hospital bed uselessly. I sat and stared at it with a twisted fascination. Wow. So this was what a limit of the human body looked like. Eventually, after having seared the image into my mind, I shut my eyes and stared no longer.

…
…
A stray light passed through the curtains. They were blowing. The window was open? I turned my thoughts inward, taking stock of my current situation, as I was trying to get used to doing. Name? Samantha Chen. Age? Seventeen, still? Probably? Still don’t know how time passes here compared to my home world. Body? Still Ochako’s. And very injured. My leg hadn’t been healed yet, since strong healing quirks were apparently very rare…I remember hearing something about that before. Recovery Girl was incredibly busy trying to deal with all of the injured- my hunch based on what Magne said was correct, there were multiple attacks. It made sense from a pragmatic point of view. If the villains were choosing targets knowing their quirks, then I definitely drew a lot of attention from winning the Sports Festival. Neito hadn’t done half-bad either.

Even those who didn’t place insanely high were also caught in the crossfire. Everyone seemed to be. There was nothing to do in the hospital except rest. And read. 

“Mechanical monstrosity stopped- one man’s sacrifice. Pro-Hero Airjet credits U.A. student with key role.”

Mineta.

“Mysterious masked showman’s rampage downtown.”

Midnight and Iida. 

“Burnin’ Rising: Battle of the Light Quirks.”

Tsuburaba, I think. It was a really blurry photo and he was in the background. 

This…this was as outright a declaration of war as it could get. The League of Villains had officially declared war on Hero Society. On U.A. And it wouldn’t stop until one of us was culled for good. 

One important revelation that we gained from all this was that the villains had new quirks. Neito’s Nomu had multiple quirks that weren’t shown in canon during the Hosu attack. It was probably modified further to become a “high-end.” Magne also had a new quirk, from what I could tell about the way she used it. During the battle, she magnetized things that weren’t gendered, and could do things like shove me into a wall and hold me there. I worried about some of the more dangerous villains. Even Spinner, with his quirk being fodder, most likely no longer had to solely rely on his swordsmanship. Swordslizardship? 

“Swordsgeckoship, actually”, Ochako offered.

Oh, right, he was a gecko, not a lizard. Seriously, how did she remember better than I did?
Ochako was really helpful during the fight with Magne. She had kept me conscious, allowing us to finally defeat Magne, even though the villain had escaped. Ah, escape. How boring. I had no delusions that she wouldn’t be back in action in some form. Maybe there was some way to heal her quickly. Maybe yet another quirk would be given to her. Worst comes to worst, she becomes a Nomu. 

Agh, who cares? Who cares who cares who cares…

What’s the goddamn point in fighting? I don’t want to be Batman. 

“Batman?”

Right, Chako. He’s a pre-quirk hero character who was orphaned as a child and is extremely rich, taking on an alter-ego to fight crime and defend his city. But no matter how awful his rivals are…he doesn’t kill them. Even Joker, who in a comic book iteration literally ate China , still lives.

What bullshit. 

I could feel Ochako’s disapproval. I closed my eyes and shut her out. Aha, I was getting better at that, wasn’t I?

But really, who cares ? Who cares that Magne got paralyzed? She’d be back up and running in no time. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. Even Neito seemed worried when she became paralyzed from the fall. Not fall. Drop. I dropped her. I dropped her and I didn’t feel anything and wait that’s a lie because it felt good it had felt so good-

Shut up!

I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. Maybe my morals were a little fucked. Maybe being in another world wasn’t good for my mental health after all, huh. But that didn’t matter. I was going to do my best to avoid being arrested or expelled. Beyond that…no promises. Sato had gone full traitor, and been a complete dumbass in the Sports Festival by openly showing off his second quirk. Dabi had apparently turned to the side of good, but all that meant was that more villain SIs were an option on the table. I was fucking tired.

…I hoped Neito was okay. Even if he was a hopeless optimist seeing the world through rose-colored lenses. Who knows, maybe he could buy me more mochi. For free, of course. 

I laughed to myself. Even though the entire universe I was in had changed, I was still cheap. And Asian. Once again, I was grateful to be Ochako, and not stuck in someone like a Nomu or Stain. I shuddered at the thought. God, I’d hate to be a Nomu. Speaking of…I should really let Ochako speak again. Well, that wasn’t quite right. She could speak, but I just…wasn’t listening. Let me just…

A shift. Intentional, sure. It felt like tuning into a specific radio frequency by turning a dial into the correct position. 

“...Sam? Sam?”

I sighed and got ready for the inevitable lecture. “Yes?”

“Good, you’re listening. You’re being too cynical, you know.”

I scoffed. “Cynical, Chako? I’m being realistic. Do you really think Magne wouldn’t have killed me if she had the chance? They were targeting us specifically, you know. They were trained to kill us, they were given specific quirks to better kill us.”

“And that’s not justice. That’s not heroism. That’s revenge! That’s wrong, Sam. That…that makes us like them.”

I was quiet for a minute. Well, not exactly quiet. More like as quiet as you could be mentally when you’re actively thinking about something.

“They escaped Tartarus, Ochako. You realize that, right? With Kurogiri they can just bust in and get out without any consequences. There was that guy in canon, Muscular, I think his name was. He could fight Miruko head-to-head. Miruko . All Might’s on a timer, I’m the one that somehow won the Sports Festival, Izuku’s not Izuku, Bakugou’s not Bakugou, Todoroki lost an arm, that’s pretty damn obvious to see when he’s walking around, we’re so fucked! You want…you want us to show mercy?”

“...I want you to be better than them.”

Better than them, huh? It sounded noble. But was it realistic? Did I really want to be like the canonical Midoriya, who wanted to save someone no matter how much of a pipe dream it was? 

No. No, I didn’t.

“I’m not better than them, Ochako. Goodnight.” ______________________________________________________________________

 

But don’t worry about me! Recovery Girl did eventually show up and fix me up with her kiss. It was an odd method of healing, sure, but, hey. Don’t knock what works. I lost another day after that, giving washed up rockstar with how passed out I was. Apparently Mika had came in to check up on me, but I had missed her since I was asleep. Shame, Mika was really nice, and I could certainly use a mental pick-me-up in the form of an excitable blonde woman. No, universe, not Toga. Thank you in advance. God bless. With the way things have been going lately, I feel like I almost have to say that. 

She had left me my hero costume, though. I opened up the briefcase without any expectations. It had been pretty messed up after the fight with Magne and the blind Nomu. I had pushed myself a lot during that, after all.

The note, in purple pen and neat, round, girly handwriting, made me grin for what felt like the first time in days.

“Your costume was really ripped, so I decided to go with some of the changes you were talking about when we put in a request to fix it! I hope you like it! We’re holding down the fort well enough here, so rest and recover, okay?

Take care, XOXO, Mika-chan.”

 

I could barely contain my excitement as I peeled away the tissue paper. Wow. Edgeshot’s agency had really gone all out. Now, remember when I mentioned that my current hero costume was a stopgap and was more fitting for Uravity than Gravitas? Well, my new costume had no such problems. In fact, it was even better than I expected. 

The material was bamboo spandex, more breathable and less tight than canon. Actually, I think there’s some other fabric blended with it, but I can’t tell what it is. I still had a face shield-like visor, but it was tinted white instead of pale pink. Remember, I had already changed it from the helmet that Ochako had in the show. I could still easily see through it, and it wasn’t difficult for others to still see my face either. Optics was important when trying to be a hero, I remembered that much. I couldn’t go around looking like the Terminator or worse, like some lame mook in a sci-fi video game. Don’t get me wrong, the outfit was still form-fitting. It was all silvery-white, with a slight skirt connecting to the pants, which could be easily tucked into the shoes I’d usually be wearing. My sleeves were quite bulky compared to everything else, as my grappling hook connected onto the top of where my right forearm would go if I was actually dressed up. My left sleeve was matching it, with a box of metal balls- an idea I borrowed from Neito, actually. Mika had really thought everything out if she even included this, from an offhand remark I had sent her sometime over text. I had debated going with some gold accents, but ultimately decided against it. I didn’t want to be seen as cheap or gauche, it wouldn’t make sense, especially given my economic background in this universe. 

Ah, it’s so nice to have something like this to latch onto. I’m fully aware of how bizarre the entire experience was: me being sucked into My Hero Academia for…reasons, people appearing and disappearing left and right, the Gamma forest attack where I had clashed with Swordkil, winning the Sports Festival (mostly by accident), and now this. God, I was really getting comfortable with nearly dying, wasn’t I?

“I’m still not forgetting what you said earlier. I’ll leave you alone about it for now, but don’t forget that if you go full edgy anti-hero I legally have to bully you about it!”

I looked like that withered man in the meme facing the woman with her hands crossed. 

“Yes, Ochako.”

My leg was pretty much all fixed now, but I’m still being kept for an extra day before discharge, since apparently I looked really bad when I first came. Which is fair, honestly. I did just get my leg snapped by the not so incredible Hulk and thrown around by a transgender magnet villain who dressed like she was way too into the eighties. 

The class group chat was surprisingly cheery for what had just transpired. Kirishima was in a hospital too, having sent a selfie with Tokage and Kendo from Class B. Well, it’s good he’s alive. He’s basically the thing actually holding our class together. Same with Kendo for Class B, honestly. No wonder they were all peaches and cream. 

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Honestly, it was barely even a blur. I just ate, slept, and scrolled social media. 

“Wtf not those UA kids again lol.”

“Yea srsly what is up with their luck.”

“Smh the teachers have to do better.”

“They are tho didn’t that weird BDSM lady fight a guy?”

“Well the principal should do better than lmaoo.”

“Yea at least healthcare is covered there ig XD.”

Getting discharged from the hospital is a surprisingly casual affair. I just signed a bunch of papers that was all basically legalese for “we won’t sue if something else happens that isn’t a direct result of treatment given.” 

Carrying my hero costume in my briefcase and dressed in civilian clothes, I once again stepped into the world, texting Edgeshot, and then Mika when Edgeshot didn’t respond, about my discharge. 

Ping.

“The boss is really busy, we’ve been working on rebuilding after the attacks. Project an image of continued power, u know? U can come over tho, meet at front entrance?”

“KK. See you.”

There was an already-paid taxi waiting in front of the hospital. A gift from Edgeshot, maybe? 

Mika practically jumped me after I arrived back at the agency. 

“Oh my god! Edgeshot already told me everything, everyone’s super busy, I’m basically the only one here! He’s leading recovery efforts, and everyone else is either helping with rebuilding or searching for hints on where the League is! But enough about me, are you okay?”

After what felt like the millionth time assuring someone that I was in fact, not dead, and that was close enough to pass for okay here, I slipped back into my internship role. 

The rest of my time at the agency was mostly about learning basic post-disaster principles. I mostly used Zero Gravity to clear debris. It wasn’t glamorous work, but that was fine. It was good training to increase my weight limit anyway. It was getting up there. Still not as good as canon, but I had come a long way since barely being able to lift two people at once. By the way, did you know Mika’s quirk was called [Ghost in the Machine] and allowed her to turn into electricity and drain energy like a Pikachu? It was useful for surveillance, especially when needing to do stuff like check under collapsed buildings. 

As I once again lifted another few pieces of rubble with my quirk, I thought of what was coming. The League was coming. The game had been set. Now, how exactly would we be matched? 

Chapter 13: Continuance

With all these villain attacks happening, it was a no-brainer that we’d have to move into dorms. I was definitely fine with it, and so were Ochako’s parents- it would be more convenient for both of us, and I promised to call often. Even though it would be annoying, I’d have Ochako do the talking, so it wouldn’t be too bad. It was definitely going to be bigger than where I’ve been staying. Surprisingly, though, the entirety of our class was currently standing in front of where I’d be staying. Did Aizawa just pick a random place? That seemed like a him thing to do for sure. I’d stayed in something like a dorm at summer camp before, but I could definitely deal with it better when I could actually have my own bedroom and bathroom. 

 

“Is everyone here?”, Ms. Aizawa said, looking over the class with a deceptively casual eye.  

 

Mineta saluted. Again. I think he’s been doing that more recently. “Yes Ma’am!”

 

The rest of the hero course- at least, what I thought was the rest of the hero course, nodded.

 

Momo confirmed it. “I did a head count and this should be everyone.”

 

Aizawa nodded and began. 

 

“Good. To begin with, I hope all of you have had productive internships. Even if they were cut short by the incident earlier this week, your mentors should have had some time to teach you something valuable. Remember these lessons and hold onto them as we return to normal hero classes.”

 

Kaminari rubbed his arms, clearly thinking about something. 

 

“Not sure about everyone else’s… but there was a lot of trouble during mine.”

 

Mineta looked concerned. 

 

“You alright dude? I heard everyone got hit pretty bad.”

 

“Got stabbed, slashed, and overall had a wonderful time. Not sure how legal it is for me to talk about the rest of my time.”

 

Yikes. So everyone had a shit time, huh. And if the League was able to target so many of us at once that means they’re likely growing in power beyond where they’re “supposed” to be at this point in the story. Hm. That’s dangerous. Well, can’t cry over spilled milk now, guess we’ll just have to shank them all. 

 

Kirishima spoke up, seeming cheerful as always, although obviously still acknowledging the seriousness of the villain attacks. 

 

“From what I’ve heard it was pretty bad but could’ve been a lot worse; I’m really glad to see that everyone’s made it out alright. Don’t forget to go to Hound Dog or talk to one of us if you guys need a friendly shoulder!” 

 

Looks like he roped Yaoyorozu into the “us” bit. 

 

But even if some of the class agreed Hound Dog was nice, a friendly shoulder wasn’t exactly what I needed or wanted right now. Ugh, even in my original universe I hated therapy. Just yap yap yap and nothing gets solved. 

 

Aizawa cleared his throat, still deadpan. 

 

“Let’s get back on track. While I’m very excited to see all of you in class tomorrow, today is supposed to be spent discussing dorms. Both of our first year classes are going to share one dorm building, with each student having an individual room and four to five students on each floor. As a reminder before I announce these groupings: living in a dorm with your fellow classmates like this is a privilege, not a right. While we will not be kicking you off campus, I will warn you that living in the teacher’s dorm is a much less pleasant experience.”

 

Yes! So it was like canon. I could deal with living with others pretty alright, then. 

 

“Be quiet, don’t burn anything down, and don’t do anything stupid inside the dorms. That about it?” Kaminari rattled off, sounding excited.

 

A few others chimed in, agreeing to behave. No one got kicked out in canon, and I’m sure the other SIs will behave too. Dorms should be the least of our worries right now. Even if we ignored the threat of villains showing up and killing us again, we did have finals soon, and that was a very normal problem for high schoolers. Very boring, very human. 

 

Aizawa continued, beginning to announce the dorms. 

 

“With that in mind: Dorm #1 is going to be Fumikage Tokoyami, Shihai Kuroiro, Kojiro Bondo, and Kosei Tsuburaba.”

 

Oh, the edgelords were gonna be in the same dorm. That would hopefully be pretty fun for them. 

 

“Dorm #2 is going to be Yosetsu Awase, Denki Kaminari, Mashirao Ojiro, Togaru Kamakiri, and Katsuki Bakugo.”

 

Seemed chill enough with canon Bakugo out of the picture. Except for Kamakiri, maybe.

 

“Dorm #3 is going to be Mezo Shoji, Neito Monoma, Minoru Mineta, and Hanta Sero.”

 

“Sweet!”

 

At least Mineta seemed pretty happy to be rooming with Sero. 

 

“Dorm #4 is going to be Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, Juzo Honenuki, and Jurota Shishida.”

 

This should be a well-behaved dorm, with Iida and Shishida on the same floor. SI Iida was still very calm. 

 

“Dorm #5 is going to be Eijiro Kirishima, Shoto Todoroki, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Hiryu Rin, and Hitoshi Shinso.”

 

I hoped the rest of them could sleep peacefully with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu in the same dorm…

 

“And lastly for the boys, Dorm #6 is going to be Sen Kaibara, Manga Fukidashi, Koji Koda, and Nirengenki Shoda.”

 

I snapped back to attention as Aizawa began to announce the girls’ dorms. 

 

“For the girls: Dorm #7 is going to be Momo Yaoyorozu, Kyouka Jirou, Itsuka Kendo, and Setsuna Tokage.

 

Dorm #8 is going to be Reiko and Emily Yanagi, Mina Ashido, Yui Kodai, and Tooru Hagakure.

And finally Dorm #9 is going to be Kinoko Komori, Ibara Shiozaki, Pony Tsunotori, Tsuyu Asui, and Ochako Uraraka.”

 

Not the best, not the worst. Everyone in my bloc seemed pretty tolerable. 

 

Pony smiled. “Sounds fun!”

 

Yep, yep…

 

“Not bad. Let’s keep our room clean, guys.”

 

As we grabbed our dorm keys from Mr. Aizawa, Iida spoke up. 

 

“So I don't know a good time to let you guys know, but Iida’s dead.”

Yeah ok cool uh what I’m sorry WHAT!!!

 

Even Kirishima didn’t really know what to say. 

“Ah, I’m- I’m sorry to hear that, man.”

 

But what did Iida, or I guess not Iida mean by dead?

 

“ I got blown up by Compress who was throwing bombs, was in like, a vestige realm talking to Iida and he said his connection or something has been weakening and he's just gone now.”

 

Oh! …oh.

 

“Alright, can’t pretend- Okay… so we’ve seen SI’s disappear. But… this is a fresh new hell… Alright. Anyone else missing friends?”

 

Kaminari seemed concerned at this new development, that even the “canon” personalities could die. 

 

“Fallia is no longer among us.”

 

Hm, Tokoyami lost his SI.

“I’m… sorry to hear that. I don’t know if you even knew them or what things were like before… this. But sorry about well… everything.” 

 

I don’t know why Kaminari was so sorry, it wouldn’t change anything. But I guess if it comforted Tokoyami? Was Tokoyami even the type of person to be comforted by that kind of thing?

 

Some of the class started talking about a funeral, and I tuned out, even though Ochako was clearly listening. Especially because Ochako was listening. 

 

I signed, grabbed the key to my room, and went upstairs to unpack and take a nap. I slept on a futon at home too, so I just brought that over and a few blankets for the different seasons. I brought practical bs too, obviously, like toothpaste, chargers, and a desk lamp. But most of all, I brought a bunch of plushies that Ochako and now I had accumulated, and proceeded to very ceremoniously dump them all over my futon. I changed into something more comfortable and cleaner before lying down and falling asleep. 

 

…

I blinked blearily, becoming aware of the world once again. That made waking up sound almost poetic, which it wasn’t. I immediately checked my phone. It was a habit that I did whenever I woke up, which probably was bad, but oh well. 

 

[Eijiro Kirishima, 5:01 PM]: Heya, folks- we’re going to be doing a little room competition. If you’re interested, drop by the common room in the next ten minutes and we’ll get going!

 

[Neito Monoma, 5:02 PM]: When we get to my room, please try to avoid letting Wanko dash out.

 

[Kosei Tsuburaba, 5:02]: Dang it, I was just down there talking to Luc. Coming down now.

 

[Katsuki Bakugo, 5:02]: whatever

 

[Yui Kodai, 5:03]: I’ll drag a friend along.

 

[Mezo Shoji, 5:03 PM]: I’ll be there as well.

 

[Fumikage Tokoyami, 5:03 PM]: Revelry in the dark.

 

[Tsuyu Asui, 5:04 PM]: Sure

 

[Emily Yanagi, 5:04 PM]: Me and Reiko will be there!

 

I sighed and shot out a reply.

 

[Ochako Uraraka, 5:04 PM]: I’ll meet you guys soon, too lazy to head down rn

 

I didn’t want to head downstairs yet, and I still had to clean up a little if I was going to be showing everyone my room. I sighed again, took a long drag of water, washed my face, and began picking up my plushies and placing them on the futon once again. 

 

I stretched and grabbed my water bottle and a granola bar so I’d have something to eat if I got hungry. Sato was the traitor, so we didn’t have cake to look forward to anymore during this. They should still be on the first floor, right? I sighed again, put on my shoes and stepped into the elevator. 

 

Behold, there they were. It wasn’t exactly hard to spot them, considering they consisted of a sizable part of 1-A and 1-B. Well, basically. I didn’t think Bakugo was here, but maybe he was and I just didn’t catch him??

 

Well, everyone was currently checking out Kuroiro’s room, so I quickly joined in on the watch party. Everything was completely black. The bed was black, the sheets were black, the desk, the walls, the curtains…the only drop of color was a Phantom of the Opera poster on the wall. The room smelled of spray paint. Clearly Kuroiro had not shied away from a bit of a crafts project.

 

“Ventilate your stuff after it's spray-painted…”, I mutter.

 

The next room I remembered was Neito’s. Somehow, despite the fact that we had literally just moved in, it was already messy. Even worse than mine, really. There was stuff for cats everywhere, a TV mounted on the wall with a gaming setup below it, containers scattered around, a surprisingly sizeable whiteboard, and, of course, a cat. 

 

A cat that immediately tried to make a mad dash out the door before Neito managed to grab it. 

 

“Clearly, I am not winning.”

 

There was a pretty nice exchange between him and Pony. I briefly considered asking to pet his cat too, but decided to let it adjust to its new environment first. It had also just moved in, after all. Still, it seemed pretty comfortable with Neito. He had even carried it out. 

 

Hanta’s room was pretty sick as expected. It was the same as canon, and had a nice neutral color palette with warm tones. Again, it was pretty cool to see another side of someone like Sero. 

 

“Honestly it is really pretty.”, Midoriya admitted.

 

Sero just grinned. “What can I say, I'm a natural born artist.”

“Can’t deny that.”

 

The Yanagis’ room had a bunch of horror movie posters on the walls. They must’ve spent a lot of time putting them up, because the room was literally plastered with them. 

 

“Welcome to our room.” Reiko spoke.

 

The speaker Reiko carried around crackled to life. 

 

“Hope you survive the experience…”

 

The door shut behind us and the lights suddenly flickered before going out completely. A recording of a scream played from somewhere hidden. 

 

Kirishima still seemed cheerful despite the scare. “How many times did it take you guys to get that down?”

 

The lights turned back on as Reiko sighed. 

 

“Far too many.”

 

“…Spooky.”

 

As I looked over at Neito, who had been the one to speak, I noticed he had a scratch on his face. Looks like the one that had gotten most scared from that little routine was his cat. 

 

Kirishima’s room had the same theme as canon. There were a bunch of superhero posters, and even one of Superman. Huh, didn’t know he was still a thing. 

“Here we are! Got some posters up and everything.”

 

Well, he was pretty happy to have a bunch of people suddenly gawking at his room. I know I wouldn’t…but I had to do this, anyway, didn’t I? Ugh…

 

“...And here I thought most media from the past was dead. This makes me wonder if other stuff is still around now.”

 

Yeah, that was what I thought too, Kaminari. It’s pretty crazy that Superman is still around somehow. 

 

“ Well, there’s a lot gone, but managed to dig this up- I’ll have to see if I can find any old comics.”

 

Kirishima replied, sitting down on his bed.

 

And now Kirishima and Itsuka were flirting again. Ick. I’m saying this affectionately, by the way.

 

Somehow, Tetsutetsu’s room was completely identical to Kirishima’s, except it was silver-themed instead of being red. How…Kirishima had even changed his room up from canon. 

 

“You have… I think this is the sign I need to go look for some old merch I wanted. But Batman? Seriously? No offense but I thought you’d be a Spider-Man guy or something if anything.”

 

Why would Tetsutetsu be a Spider-Man guy? That made less sense in my eyes than Batman, honestly. Kaminari was just kinda off here.

 

“Hey, if it works.” I pointed out.

 

“True- Fair enough I suppose.”

 

Eventually, we did get to my room. It was honestly a pretty simple room. Just me, my futon-bed, and a mountain of plushies. 

 

“Took a nap earlier and scattered plushies everywhere. I fixed it, but I didn’t make the bed yet”, I explained.

 

Neito’s cat was trying to go after my stuff. 

 

“Wanko, no-“, Neito scolded as he carried his cat back out. ”Nice room, Sako.”

 

His cat’s name was Wanko? That was an odd name. The cat was cute, though.

 

Sero picked up one of my plushies before setting it back down. 

 

“You wouldn’t expect the winner of the Sports Fest to have a soft side. Pretty cool, huh?”

 

I mean, no surprises there, what kind of person did Sero think I was? 

 

Eventually, we visited everyone’s room. Yes, even Bakugo’s. 

 

Kiri handed out pieces of paper to us all for voting, as Ashido continued to chirp. 

 

“No voting for yourself, everyone! And may the best room win!”

 

Hm, if we’re voting for purely rooms I’ll vote Sero. It’ll probably turn into a popularity contest, as always, though. 

 

“And the winner is- drumroll please-“

 

Wow, Ashido seemed really excited about this.

 

So did Kirishima, I mean, did he start drum rolling?

 

“Reiko and Emily!”

 

“Second place goes to a three way tie between Sero, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima!”

 

“And… there’s a lot of votes for the next ones.”

 

Kirishima chimed in. “We’ll call it there, then-  congrats to everyone who won, and thanks everyone for participating!”

 

“Awesome! I guess, uh, see you in class?”

 

“Let’s do that!”

 

So it was a popularity contest. Well, the Yanagis did well enough with their routine, but Kirishima shouldn’t have placed if Tetsutetsu didn’t. At least Kirishima and Ashido were happy. In the face of overwhelming despair. And finals. Mostly finals.

 

The next few weeks weren’t really kept track of in “weeks”, but rather “days until finals.” I have no idea what the others were doing- probably forming study groups with their buddies and all that jazz. 

 

That kind of thing never worked well for me, so I studied on my own, usually with a can of energy drink next to me and a plushie in my lap. 

 

It was cozy, surprisingly. The others weren’t too loud either, so it was actually pretty to focus. It was a relief, cause I totally would’ve given them an earful if they were too loud. I’ll admit I pulled some late nights, but there was a certain high to it. 

 

The silence of the night, the soft clicking of my keyboard. The hiss of a freshly-opened energy drink. Honestly, it was more about learning how to take a test than actually learning the material, since it was mostly stuff I knew already but had forgotten. 

 

And, of course, because UA wasn’t just some normal mid boring high school, I trained my quirk. Even if we weren’t gonna go mano-el-mano with the teachers like in the story, there was sure to be some kind of practical exam. And I was gonna fucking pass. 

 

Ah, I guess it was practical as well, that fight against Magne and that Nomu went sooo badly. Ugh, and I had thought I was getting better. Everything was such a drag now…

 

But I was getting better. I was keeping in touch with Mika from the agency, mostly for training tips but also because she was just a pretty chill person. You’d expect someone as energetic as her to drain me, but she respected boundaries and was never overly loud, even when we video called. 

 

I was getting way more consistent at movement, especially with my grappling hook. I was so happy I said “poggers” instinctually  when I hooked a target from the other side of the field. I mean, thank god no one was there. Poggers, seriously? That was what I instinctively said? 

 

Ah well. At least I’d have a fighting chance at finals.

Chapter 14: Covalence

Summary:

As final exams approach, will Sam crash out?

I yawned as I stood in front of UA along with the rest of my class. It was in the morning, which, you know, is school for you. But I was still tired after the written finals, I didn’t want to take the practicals yet. I could hear the cars passing by. What normal lives these people have. Well, probably not. They could be villains or something for all I’d know, and for all I’d care as well. Looks like it’s just Aizawa-sensei for now. Where’s everyone else? We’re fighting our teachers in pairs, right?

 

Iida echoed my thoughts. “So, who's ready to get their asses kicked in by our teachers?”

 

Mineta, who was also a self-insert but didn’t know much if I remember right, chimed in curiously. “We’re… fighting our teachers?”

 

Kaminari nodded. “Yep. And two very unlucky bastards are gonna fight All Might.”

 

Well, it’s not going to be me. I’d learn nothing from fighting All Might. It would make more sense for me to fight just about any teacher besides All Might. What would I gain from going up against super strength and speed?  

 

Kirishima, who I suspect may be fighting All Might this time, spoke up. “Assuming they didn’t change the format, anyways. And between Franco and Sato, we’re down two students, so there very well might not be an All Might fight.”

 

Oh, right, Bakugou was gone. I almost forgot. Didn’t he run away or something? Eh, whatever.

 

“You can’t just say that, Sam!”

 

Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry, Chako. I just really didn’t know him well, you know? I just remember that he LARPed as the real Bakugo for a while, revealed himself because he spoke in Italian, and then won the first event of the Sports Festival and then got out because the second event was bullshit.

 

Mina smiled and put her hands behind her head, looking relaxed. Or maybe actually relaxed. You could never tell with Mina. “Just as long as I’m not going up against him!~”

 

Yeah, I doubt you’re going against him. Mina’s another one of those people that would gain nothing from fighting All Might, really. Speaking of, I’m curious about something.

 

“Anyone have any predictions on who they’ll get paired up against?”

 

Iida thought he was going to fight Midnight or Power Loader.

Mineta thought that Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, or both would fight All Might, which Kiri was unsurprisingly ok with. 

 

Iida was curious too. “Predictions on who's fist fighting Aizawa?”

Kaminari hummed for a moment. “Anyone of the people primarily reliant on their quirks who isn’t a mutation type.”

Kirishima nodded. “Based on that, I’d pin it on Midoriya and Yaoyorozu—though I wouldn’t be surprised if you were thrown in, Shinsou. After all, you’ve got a similar style to Ms. Aizawa.”

Shinsou snorted. “Hopefully it’s someone a little bit less paranoid.”

Iida frowned in thought. “Before he got sent away I kinda thought Sato would get Aizawa for some reason.”

Mineta tilted his head. “You know. I never got to know the guy. What was he like? Before the whole… you know.”

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck. “Acerbic. He was a standoffish guy, even outside of being a villain.”

Uraraka spoke up quietly. “I don’t think he liked being here at all. This world, I mean.”

“I think that was Ojiro you’re thinking of,” Iida said quickly.

Sero shook his head. “Nah. Uraraka’s right. That was the big S alright. Honestly, as standoffish as he was, I never saw it coming.”

“I kinda did after the whole Sports Festival thing, and even before that,” Kaminari admitted.

Shinsou smirked faintly. “He wasn’t exactly trying to hide it.”

Iida adjusted his glasses. “He kind of sucked as a spy and villain. But he was probably taking the piss with the LoV.”

Mineta’s expression darkened a little. “He worked with the League. We don’t have the privilege of underestimating villains.”

Kaminari nodded, rolling his shoulder and moving his arm around. “We don’t. Especially for the League since they have access to multiple quirks. But as long as they can still be punched in some way, we should be good.”

“As long as we work together and watch each other’s backs, anyways,” Kirishima added.

Iida didn’t look convinced. “I am worried though. Our numbers are dropping fast, and people are going off the rails doing their own things very quickly. We are getting to a point that's far off the original path and no way to tell what that means.”

Mineta thought about it for a moment. “We were separated last time… in May. Call me a pessimist, but Iida’s got a point. We’ve… lost a lot of people.” He forced a cheerful, though strained, smile. “But you guys are strong, right? You can knock them out no problem.”

“That’s the thing,” Kaminari said, frowning as he looked away. “Even if we aren’t separated, we still can lose. These villains have more quirks, less moral restrictions, and overall are stronger. Essentially, we need to step up or somehow find a way to get on their level.”

“And that’s where we come in!” Nedzu chirped suddenly, popping out of Aizawa’s scarf.

While we were talking, the rest of the teachers had arrived and now stood in a line in front of us: All Might, Aizawa, Midnight, Cementoss, Thirteen, Power Loader, Ectoplasm, and Present Mic.

“Let’s talk about your finals,” Aizawa said. “As you all know, I’m sure, it’s possible for you to fail this exam. If you don’t want remedial classes during the training camp, don’t mess up.”

Nedzu spread his arms. “Now, as I’m sure many of you already know, this year the final exams will see each of you students partnering up and facing off against one of the teachers you see here! Your pairings and assigned teacher, of course, have already been decided. Your fighting styles, grades, friendships… all of these factors and more were considered, do not worry!”

Aizawa nodded. “Each of you will be getting a pair of handcuffs. You pass the exam if you manage to escape the arena or if you manage to put the handcuffs on your teachers.”

“And, to make it more fair, each teacher will be wearing these ultra compressed weights,” All Might announced, holding them up. They looked a lot like the ones in canon. “They were designed  by the support department! In total, these weights will weigh us down with an extra fifty percent of our body weight!”

“Mei Hatsume and Maina Furasu won the competition to design them, so thank them the next time you see them,” Power Loader added.

Cementoss spoke firmly. “Now, remember, students: it will be up to you to choose how you wish to approach this exam.”

“This exam is meant to simulate real combat as closely as possible,” Thirteen reminded us. “Please, think of us as actual villains.”

“Running or fighting are both equally valid options,” Ectoplasm said.

“And whatever path you pick, you don’t got to commit to it!” Present Mic shouted. “Be flexible! Explore different options!”

Midnight twirled her whip idly with a smirk. “And don’t forget. Some of us play rough. If you let your guard down even for a moment, you’ll be mine before you even know it. But that’s the point, isn’t it? To see how well you perform under pressure~”

“You’ll have ten minutes from the start of the exam to either escape or capture your opponent!” Nedzu concluded.

“Good luck, all of you,” All Might said warmly.

Aizawa grinned faintly. “Now. Any questions?”

Iida raised his hand. “How much time do we get to make a plan with our partners?”

“You’ll have the duration of the bus ride to the exam site!” Nedzu replied. “This is meant to simulate real villain attacks, after all, so you must be prepared to fight on little to no warning.”

“What happens if only one of us gets out?” Sero asked.

“You still pass the exam as long as both heroes contribute to your victory,” Nedzu explained.

“Harsh but realistic. Pyrrhic victory is still victory,” Kaminari muttered. “All I can say is I hope it doesn’t come down to it.”

Yaoyorozu raised her hand. “What if we restrain our opponents in a different manner?”

“That may still delay them, but you must use the handcuffs for it to count as a victory!” Nedzu said.

Mineta and Sero, both restraining quirk users, looked down in embarrassment at that.

“Any other questions?” Aizawa asked.

Mineta grinned. “No ma’am!”

“Then let’s get started,” Aizawa said. “Midoriya and Tokoyami, you’re with me.”

“Alright,” Midoriya grimaced. Tokoyami crossed his arms and nodded silently.

“Good luck you two,” Iida called out.

“You got this,” Mineta added.

“Ojiro and Shoji, let’s get our grooves on!” Present Mic cheered.

Ojiro cracked his head and tail, while Shoji grinned beneath his mask.

“Good luck,” Koda said quietly.

“Uraraka and Tsunotori, you’re with me,” Thirteen announced.

“Got it. Pony, let’s do our best,” I said.

“Okay!” Pony replied.

Mineta gave us a thumbs up. “Kick their butt!”

“Asui and Shinsou, I’ll be your opponent,” Ectoplasm said.

Asui nodded, while Shinsou grinned with anticipation.

“You guys have this covered, don’t worry!” Kirishima said.

“Kaminari, Koda. Congratulations, boys,” Midnight purred, striking a pose. “You’ve just been volunteered to face your worst nightmare.” She winked slowly. “I hope you’re good at thinking on your feet… or at least staying awake.”

“I’m a melee fighter. Midnight is probably my worst match up that isn’t just someone who can outfight me,” Kaminari admitted, nodding.

Koda shivered quietly.

“Relax. You have this in the bag, dude,” Sero reassured.

“Jirou and Ashido, you’ll be facing off against me,” Power Loader said.

“Let’s do it!” Ashido cheered. Kirishima offered her a casual side-fist bump, which she accepted. Jirou reluctantly did the same.

“Good luck to both of you,” Yaoyorozu said.

“Mr. Mineta, Mr. Sero, the two of you will be challenged by me today,” Nedzu declared.

Mineta stiffened, unusually serious. “Ok. Let’s do it.”

“Hey, we’ve got this man,” Sero said confidently.

Mineta reluctantly nodded.

“Good luck, you two,” Iida said. “Watch the construction equipment if he brings it out.”

“Something tells me he’s got worse plans,” Mineta said dryly.

“Iida and Hagakure, I will be your opponent,” Cementoss announced.

“Welp, guess I’m gonna be a maze runner or something,” Iida muttered.

Hagakure tightened her gloves and nodded.

“You’re fast enough to win. Knock him out,” Mineta encouraged with a thumbs up.

“And Young Kirishima and Young Yaoyorozu…” All Might began.

Kirishima gulped.

“…I’ll be facing you today,” All Might finished.

Kirishima grinned. “Then let’s do this!”

Ashido patted his back. “Time to go Plus Ultra after all, huh?”

“Good luck… you’re in for a really bad time,” Kaminari said.

Mineta grinned. “Hey, they’re our class reps for a reason. Show All Might who’s boss! 1-A pride.” He chuckled.

“Anyone else hear Megalovania now?,” Iida muttered.

Yep, since Kaminari said bad time. It’s skeleboi time!

 

The bus rattled along as we left UA behind. I ended up sitting next to Pony Tsunotori, and I wasn’t sure how to start. I could speak English, much better than canon Uraraka, actually, which she immediately confirmed in my head. Would Pony be more comfortable with that? I decided to try it.

“Ok, first things first, she can’t actually kill us. Maybe we can work with that somehow. She’s also weighed down like every other teacher, but I doubt that affects her too much because she’s not really a movement fighter? If we get too close to her she has to deactivate it. Anyways I don’t think we should go for the escape victory. It plays into her hands.”

Pony didn’t even blink at the switch. If anything, she looked more at ease. “Mm. I don’t know how much exactly my horns can do, but I have good movement with them and can also try using them as distractions.”

I wasn’t keen on going up against Thirteen. Then again, it was better than fighting someone like Eraserhead or All Might. Or, god forbid, Principal Nedzu. I’d rather go up against All Might than him. The rat man was a menace in the right conditions.

The exam area turned out to be a fake city, much like the one from Yaoyorozu and Todoroki’s final in canon. Thirteen led us in a little ways before stopping, arms crossed.

“Okay! Both of you have heard the same rules as everyone else, but do you have any questions before we get started?”

“Just to make sure, we either need at least one of us to escape or to capture you with the exam handcuffs, right?” I asked.

“That’s correct,” Thirteen said with a nod.

“Ok, no more from me. Anything you want to ask, Tsunotori?”

“Nope.”

“Then here you guys go!” she said, handing me a set of handcuffs. “The exam’s going to start in a couple of minutes, so get in any last minute strategizing that you need now!” With that, she walked off deeper into the urban area, back toward the goal.

“Ok so her quirk is pretty OP,” I muttered once she was gone. “But we either have to get it aimed at us or aimed at herself so she has to turn it off. Second option’s less risky. Maybe we can use your quirk to help with that.”

“Like, redirect where she’s aiming?” Pony asked.

“Maybe. We’re not gonna get the handcuffs on unless we can get close. And we’re not gonna be able to escape if she has her quirk on.”

“Right.”

A buzzer blared through the city.

“Team Uraraka and Tsunotori. Practical Exam. Ready…?”

“Are we supposed–” I started, but the PA cut me off.

“Go!”

I was going to ask if we were supposed to respond, but I guess that answered my question for me. Whatever, let’s roll out.

“Ok, let’s stay near each other for now?”, I suggested quickly.

“Right.”

Good. She quickly agreed with me. I’m not much of a leader, but the test is obviously going to go better if we’re voluntarily on the same page.

“Want me to use my quirk on you? It might help mobility and you can steer with your horns.”

Pony nodded and held out the back of her wrist for me to tap. I did, and Zero Gravity kicked in. She hopped up onto one horn like a broom and then offered me a second.

I climbed on. “Guess we should go find Thirteen.”

And go full Harry Potter on her ass, but I didn’t say that part out loud.

“Right.” The horns shot forward toward the exit.

We didn’t get far. Suddenly, the horns were yanked off course, pulled hard toward the ground by an incredibly strong suction force. We were still weightless, but that didn’t stop the acceleration dragging us toward Thirteen.

“Found her,” I said through gritted teeth. I jumped off Pony’s horn and fired my grappling hook, hooking away. It only worked because she wasn’t at full power yet.

“Shit–” Pony cursed, launching a horn barrage at Thirteen.

Thirteen calmly disintegrated them. Her quirk was a black hole, and she used it as easily as someone brushing dirt off a table.

Pony grit her teeth and zoomed toward her anyway, boosting herself with three horns to go as fast as possible.

Thirteen shut off one finger valve and weakened the pull, then used the Zero Gravity affecting Pony to throw her away before strengthening her quirk again to destroy the rest of the horns.

“Shit, Pony, are you ok?” I couldn’t do much right now for her except try to take advantage of any distractions she left me.

Thirteen looked both ways before she yanked up some of the ground between her and the two of us as a hasty barrier.

Pony smashed through the quick wall but missed Thirteen completely, losing track of her in the chaos.

Thirteen sucked up more of the ground and then dodged aside, letting it fly past her and straight at us.

Pony swerved very sharply upward. “Woah!”

I could feel her lose her focus on her control over my horn. It was an odd sensation as the previously steady surface suddenly bucked. Since I wasn’t exactly expecting what I was riding to turn into something mimicking a bull, I slipped from the horn. Naturally, I caught myself with Zero Gravity, but Thirteen flung me away again before I could get close to her. 

 

I used my grappling hook to attach onto a telephone pole, swung myself back toward her, and then released my hand from the hook mid-swing to drop down directly on top of her.

Pony saw the chance. She sent another barrage of horns crashing down as she dove at Thirteen with her own body.

That forced her hand, and finally, Thirteen shut off her quirk.

I snapped the cuffs around her wrist before she could react.

Pony skidded to a stop nearby, chest heaving. I landed hard, knees shaking from adrenaline. It was exhausting for us both, but it was over. We had managed to pass.

“Hey, hey, Tsunotori, we did it. Nice job.”

I offered her a smile. Something rare, from me. Even when I’m happy, I never really tend to smile much. But hey, I wasn’t going to be a dick to someone who had just passed an annoying practical exam with me. Besides, Neito likes her, so that puts her in my good books anyway. 

Pony smiled back at me. “Mhm! I’m glad we managed to pass. You did good, Uraraka!”

“You can call me Ochako. Actually, I guess you can call me Sam, if you want. I’m not Ochako.”

She nods, seeming way too serious about that. 

“Then you can call me Pony too.”

 

Dinner with Ochako’s parents really isn’t the typical celebratory affair you’d expect. None of that typical American fancy dinner at a nice local restaurant stuff. Nope, exam celebrations were me Facetiming Ochako’s parents and eating takeout I ordered while once again, relaying everything Ochako’s saying to them. 

It might be cold, but I really don’t give a fuck about them. They’re not my parents, so they’re basically just two random adults to me. But Ochako does care for them for obvious reasons, so I act polite.

Even though I want to pull out my phone and start watching Youtube videos, I dutifully relay everything while practically doing a mukbang on roast kebabs like the world’s most hungry Amazon Alexa.

But instead of “Hi, I’m Alexa”, it’s saying stuff like “Aw, thank you so much, mom, I love you” and “I feel like I’m one step closer to becoming a real hero.”

It’s a very surreal experience. I’m relaying stuff like how grateful I am for their support while my actual thoughts are more along the lines of “man, this chicken skin kebab is really good. It’s very crispy. I didn’t expect them to be able to keep it crispy since it was delivered. Did the delivery driver have a teleport quirk?”

Ochako isn’t the happiest about this, obviously.

“Please at least try to take this seriously.”

I am, but it’s all just so annoying. I wanted to relax after the exams, not do more work. Social charity is still work, I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it.

Ah well. I’m just glad it’ll all be over soon. After this, I think I’m going to take a nap. And no one, not even Ochako, will stop me.