Chapter Text
U.A. High Entrance Exam: Practical Exam
Shota Aizawa’s Quirk wasn’t exactly suited for combat situations, which was why he had his capture weapon. He was able to take out a fair amount of robots with his weapon during the practical exam, as well as deny several other contenders their points by temporarily erasing their Quirks and taking out those robots, as well. However, when the gargantuan zero-pointer showed up, everyone turned tail and ran, hoping to snag some easier points with the smaller robots. In the panicked scramble to escape the huge robot, Aizawa was trampled into the ground by the other candidates and left to the mercy of massive zero-pointer.
Right when the robot was almost upon him, Aizawa felt a massive gust of wind rush past him as the screeching sound of tearing metal and crushed gears grated against his ears. When Aizawa thought it was safe enough to look up, he saw a girl standing in front of him. Her arms were held out on either side of her, and Aizawa could just make out small gusts of wind trailing from her palms. The huge zero-pointer lay demolished in front of her, now reduced to a huge pile of scrap metal. The girl turned around to face Aizawa, the wind coming from her hands immediately dissipating as she went over to his fallen position on the ground.
“Are you alright?” she asked, her expression worried as she held out a hand to him. “I hope you weren’t trampled too badly by the crowd earlier.”
“I’m fine,” Aizawa muttered as he took the girl’s hand and pulled himself to his feet. “Thanks.”
The girl smiled, her outstretched hand falling back to her side. “It was nothing, really,” she replied. “I saw how you handled getting points earlier, even if your Quirk isn’t very suited for combat. It was really impressive.”
The girl’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment, and she stuck out her hand a second time. “I’m [Name], by the way,” she finally introduced herself. “[Name] [Last]. Nice to meet you.”
Aizawa looked at [Name’s] hand, and grasped it in his own. “I’m Shota Aizawa.”
“Well, Shota, I hope you pass the entrance exam,” [Name] said as she retracted her hand once more. “Maybe we’ll end up in the same class!”
Aizawa let the corner of his mouth turn up in a small smirk. “Yeah, maybe we will. I hope you pass, too.”
U.A. High: First Day in Class 1-A
“Hello there, class!” a thirty-something woman greeted Class 1-A cheerfully as soon as the bell rang. “I’m your homeroom teacher, Akiko Takahashi, but my hero name is the Illusionist. It’s a pleasure to meet you! How about we all introduce ourselves before orientation starts? Just stand up and tell us your name and Quirk, and that’s all. My Quirk is called Optical Illusion. Now, who wants to go next?”
A lanky boy with spiky blond hair and gold-tinted glass stood up first. “What’s up, guys? My name’s Hizashi Yamada, and my Quirk is called Voice! Nice to meetcha!” He said all of this a bit too loudly for Aizawa’s liking, even without his Quirk. As Yamada sat down, Aizawa noticed that Yamada’s seat was apparently right next to his. He wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about this fact just yet.
Deciding to just get it over with, Aizawa stood up next. “I’m Shota Aizawa, my Quirk is called Erasure,” he said shortly before sitting down immediately after.
The rest of the class got through their introductions, and the last one to go was the girl Aizawa recognized as [Name]: the girl who’d rescued him during the practical exam.
“I’m [Name] [Last], and my Quirk is called Four Winds,” she introduced herself, waving slightly before taking her seat, which was directly in front of Aizawa’s. Shortly after, [Name] turned around to face Aizawa, an expression of amusement on her face.
“So we did end up in the same class,” she commented. “I’m glad that you were able to pass the entrance exam.”
Before Aizawa had the chance to get in a reply, Yamada suddenly leaned in, a conspiratory expression and a confident grin plastered across his face.
“Oooh, looks like we already have some young love blossoming!” he exclaimed loudly before he was immediately smacked upside the head with a textbook, with [Name] being his assailant.
“Hey, what was that for?” he complained.
“Don’t be stupid, we’re just friends,” [Name] corrected him irritably. “I mean, we just met a week ago.” [Name’s] expression suddenly became mortified as she processed her words.
“Ah, I’m sorry, was calling us friends too soon?!” she asked Aizawa, her voice slightly panicked. “I know we just met, but I can take it back if you’re uncomfortable-”
“No, it’s fine,” Aizawa replied, his sincere tone betraying the neutral expression on his face. “As long as you aren’t constantly yelling in my ear twenty-four seven, I don’t care too much about what you call us.”
[Name] exhaled. “That’s good,” she said, relief clearly evident in her voice. “But you really do need friends, Shota. You can’t just spend your time at U.A. as a social recluse.”
“That’s why you’re my friend, isn’t it?” Aizawa questioned.
“And me too, right?” Yamada interjected hopefully.
“ No ,” Aizawa and [Name] replied simultaneously, both of them wearing matching deadpan expressions.
They let Yamada stick around, anyway.
U.A. Sports Festival: Final Match
“And here we have the final matchup of the Fighting Tournament!” the announcer projected to the audience. “From Class 1-A, a formidable fighter with an equally formidable Quirk, we have Shota Aizawa!” Shota faced his opponent, trying his hardest to drown out the thunderous applause.
“And his opponent, also from Class 1-A! She’s been flying high above the competition and taking no prisoners thus far. Here’s [Name] [Last!]”
[Name] faced Aizawa amidst the applause, her hands clasped behind her back. “Don’t hold back on me,” she told him, a nervous smile on her face.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Aizawa replied shortly, but not unkindly. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
And with that, the match began. The matchup was this: Aizawa’s Quirk could only last so long, and he had to take breaks in between each interval of usage. Both Aizawa and [Name] were both skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and Aizawa’s strategy was to wear [Name] down and render her unable to get up and fight anymore. Since [Name’s] Quirk didn’t need any waiting periods between uses, all she had to do was use her Quirk during one of Aizawa’s waiting periods and either wear him down until he lost the energy to fight, or find a moment to use her Quirk and push him out of the arena. Finally, [Name] ended the match by using her Quirk to blow Aizawa out of the arena with one huge gust of wind. As Aizawa lay on the hard ground, he saw [Name] run up to him and hold out her hand to him.
Aizawa felt a warm sense of deja vu as he took in the familiar worried expression on [Name’s] face as she asked him once again, “Are you alright?”
Hero Informatics: Picking Hero Names
“Huh? So you haven’t decided on a code name yet?” Yamada asked Aizawa, who was staring at the currently blank whiteboard on his desk.
“It doesn’t matter what I choose,” Aizawa replied indifferently. “I don’t wanna be in the spotlight, anyway.”
Yamada stared at Aizawa for a moment, before shooting up from his seat and pumping his fist into the air enthusiastically. “Bro, I got it!” he exclaimed loudly, before striking a pose. “How about Eraserhead?!”
“Sure, whatever,” Aizawa replied with just as little enthusiasm as before. He scribbled it on his whiteboard before looking up at [Name]. “What about you, [Name]?” he asked. “Have you decided on a name yet?”
[Name] turned around to face Aizawa and Yamada, holding her whiteboard in front of her, which had the word “Boreas” written on it.
“Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind,” [Name] explained when she noticed Yamada’s confused expression and Aizawa’s slightly furrowed brow, her voice and facial expression becoming more enthusiastic. “I almost went with Zephyr, the Greek god of the west wind, but he’s a pretty chill dude in Greek mythology, and I wanted something a bit more intimidating.”
[Name’s] expression suddenly shifted from enthusiasm to sheepishness. “I’m kind of a nerd for myths and legends, especially Greek and Japanese mythology,” she explained, her smile becoming slightly embarrassed. “I tend to ramble when someone brings up something I’m passionate about.”
“It’s a cool name, but I think you should go with something that’s a bit flashier!” Yamada declared. “How about...Lady Tempest! Or maybe Tornado Girl!“
“Those names are stupid, hers is just fine,” Aizawa retorted.
“Even if no one really gets it, at least it’s my own, and that’s all that matters for now,” [Name] concluded, before shooting Aizawa a grateful smile. “And besides, you guys like it, so that’s fine with me.”
Pro Hero Debut: Boreas
Aizawa sat in his apartment, a box of takeout on the coffee table as he read a Sherlock Holmes novel. Suddenly, an announcement from the television caused his gaze to snap up from the book to the TV screen:
“Breaking news: a Pro Hero known as Boreas just made her debut tonight, single-handedly taking out a group of drug smugglers and rescuing a boat full of passengers!”
And there she was. Standing in front of a large crowd, she wore a white button-down shirt with long puffy sleeves, a pale grey vest, dark grey pants, black knee-high boots, and black gloves. A pair of rectangular goggles with blue-tinted lenses concealed her eyes, a utility belt hung around her waist, and two dueling sabers were strapped across her back. Aizawa remembered that [Name] hadn’t originally intended to have goggles as a part of her outfit, but both Aizawa and Yamada had suggested that she should get some sort of durable eyewear towards the end of their second year.
Since [Name’s] Quirk involved the use of wind and air, goggles would prevent her from getting dry-eye syndrome when she used her Quirk. Yamada had suggested sunglasses, and Aizawa had recommended goggles. [Name] acknowledged the logic behind their argument, but told the two of them that her family was struggling financially and that she seriously doubted that she’d be able to afford that sort of thing. At the end of their second year, Aizawa presented [Name] with a pair of rectangular goggles with blue-tinted lenses. The same pair of goggles she was wearing right now, on her debut night.
Aizawa’s expression remained neutral. He had wondered what [Name] had been doing since graduation, and so far she seemed like she was doing pretty well. [Name] had the potential to become a great hero, someone that people could look up to when they needed a role model or a symbol of hope. Aizawa looked at the TV screen–at [Name], one last time before turning the television off and rising from the couch, deciding to turn in for the night. He’d just bought a large yellow mummy sleeping bag he saw at a sporting goods store, and he’d be using it for the first time tonight to see if it was worth the eighty dollars he’d spent on it.
Pro Hero Debut: Eraserhead
[Name] sat in her apartment, a mug of chocolate, rooibos, and vanilla tea on the coffee table as she read The Iliad . Suddenly, an announcement from the television caused her gaze to snap up from the book to the TV screen:
“Breaking news: a Pro Hero known as Eraserhead just made his debut today, single-handedly taking out a mafia gang and rescuing fifteen people!”
And there he was. Standing in front of a crowd and looking very annoyed, he wore a worn-out black outfit that consisted of a long-sleeve shirt, pants, a utility belt, and boots. His capture weapon coiled around his neck like a scarf and covered his mouth, while the goggles on his face concealed his eyes in order to keep opponents from telling whose Quirk he’d erased. [Name] remembered that Aizawa had originally planned on getting black goggles, but Yamada and [Name] (mostly Yamada) had both insisted on getting goggles that were a brighter color so that he had a little bit of color to his outfit. So at the end of their second year, Yamada gave Aizawa a pair of bright yellow goggles so that the two of them were “matching”. The same pair of goggles he was wearing right now, on his debut night.
[Name] smiled slightly. She had wondered what Aizawa had been doing since graduation, and so far he seemed like he was doing pretty well for someone who didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight. Aizawa had the potential to become a great hero, someone that people could look up to when they needed a role model or a symbol of hope, even if he didn’t think so. [Name] looked at the TV screen–at Aizawa, one last time before turning the television off and rising from the couch, deciding to turn in for the night. She grabbed her book from the couch as she exited the living room, knowing fully well that she’d be spending at least two more hours reading before she actually got any sleep.