Chapter Text
Neito opened his eyes to the unforgiving sun of the morning shining down on him. He gave a groan and turned over on his bed and looked at his alarm clock. 8:00 AM it read.
He stretched his arms over his head and groaned, and tried to shake away the natural morning grogginess from his limbs. He had to do some stretches before he was awake, and then he got up and went to his attached bathroom to freshen up. Then something hit him. 'Why didn't Sir and Madam wake me up?' He thought. 'I thought I was to be doing the housework during my stay.' It wasn't like Neito's parents needed him to do the housework, they were plenty rich to hire someone to do it for them, but they just wanted their son to suffer. Realizing that he would be late, he quickly brushed his teeth and took a shower, he then brushed his hair, taking his time to make it look perfect. He then chose to wear some casual clothes. A polo shirt with some khaki shorts. He considered himself fashionable, but he didn't really put much thought in his outfit and the colors ended up clashing. He then used more time looking for a better shirt, and the clock read 9:30 AM before he finally left his room and went downstairs. His father was at the excessively large counter, sipping his coffee eloquently through a teacup. His mother was on the couch, with a rigid posture, watching what looked like the local news.
"Neito," his father started, and Monoma gave a shiver at the use of his given name. It usually meant trouble. "You will be excused from chores today. I believe today is the day you are to take your stuff to your new dorm at U.A?"
Neito nodded, trying to stifle his laugh at the fact that his father's words rhymed. "Go and get your boxes then, the chauffeur will be waiting for you at the front." Neito nodded again and turned to go. Until his father growled out, "What do you say?" Neito mumbled out a "Yes, sir." before hurrying to his room. He knew his father just didn't want to leave a mark on him before he left for school where people would see, that's why he didn't hit him.
Monoma sighed and grabbed the boxes. At that moment, he really wished that he could copy Kendo's quirk and use her large hands to carry his boxes to the car. After a while of going up and down stairs, he finally finished transferring boxes from his room to the car waiting for him.
He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and entered the car, with the chauffeur entering the driver seat. The drive to U.A was silent and it wasn't comfortable silence, it was awkward and almost suffocating. Neito released a sigh as the U.A Barrier came into view as well as some other people who had just arrived. It was a week before classes started and was Saturday, but the school wanted everyone to settle in before school resumed, especially the first - years.
As he stepped out of the car, he was met with someone wrapping their rather large hands around him, and he immediately broke out into a smile. "Monoma!" the red-head squealed, hugging her friend so hard that he couldn't breathe. "Um, Kendo I can't-" He was immediately released. Kando rubbed the back of her head, cheeks tinted a light pink from embarrassment. "Oops, sorry about that, I just got a bit too excited."
"Yeah, no shit."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "It's nice to see you too Monoma."
"Where's everyone else?" he asked. He knew they would probably be unloading their boxes into their new rooms, but he didn't see hands holding any boxes, which probably means she had decided to wait for him after putting her stuff in her room.
"They're unpacking, but they say hello in advance!" Kendo beamed.
Monoma returned the gesture and he turned to the car, where the chauffeur had dropped all his boxes. He knew the guy had a speed - enhancing quirk but jeez, that was fast!
Kendo enlarged her hands as she looked at Monoma. "Need help?" she smirked. "Nah," he started, his own hands suddenly becoming bigger. "I got this."
The two of them walked along the path, catching up on what they had done for the holidays. Neito had gotten up to some training, because he felt he needed to work harder, especially after he almost failed his final exams.
"It wasn't your fault," she told him, her eyes showing nothing but pity. Neito hated pity.
Sure, it wasn't his fault he got paired up with Shishida, nor was it his fault that he couldn't copy mutant - based quirks, but he felt he could have done more. After he almost failed, he realized that without his quirk, he had almost nothing else to bring to the table. With this in mind, he had started to train with weapons and work on his physical attributes more, and that wasn't very hard to do, considering how his father was a pro hero.
'At least he's good for something,' Neito thought, as the beautiful and rather large buildings of the Heights Alliance started to come into view.
"Monoma!" Tetsutetsu shouted, running out from inside the building of Class 2 - B to trap Monoma in a hug that was almost as bone - crushing as Kendo's. Monoma was just lucky to have predicted this, and so decided to throw his boxes over to Kendo, who with her hands free, caught them.
"Man! I missed you so much dude!" he pulled away. "How was your spring vacation? Excited for this new year?"
Monoma just managed to muster a small smile. "I'm going to give my all."
Testutetsu beamed. "Now that's the spirit!" He took a step back and sized Monoma up. The blonde was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable under his friend's gaze, and this feeling was only amplified when Tetsutetsu suddenly lifted up his shirt.
"Woah!" he shouted, not expecting this behaviour.
"Tetsutetsu!" Kendo scolded, though she made no point to move, choosing to send her friend a harsh glare.
"Dude! Have you been working out? You weren't this ripped last time we saw each other in the changing rooms! How the hell did you do it?" It was true. Last time, he didn't really have a tough abdomen, just an outline of what would look like abs. At this point, due to his training, he became stronger, and normal punches to the gut didn't hurt as much, and he now had the liberty of sporting a six pack.
"Tetsutetsu's right." Kendo observed, taking note of Monoma's upper body.
"We get it, I've undergone a supernatural transformation, can I go now?" Monoma asked, rather embarrassed but successfully dodging the question. It wasn't like he didn't like praise, he loved it as much as the next person, but he didn't get it much, and when he did, it wasn't about his body.
"Oh yeah!" Tetsutetsu perked up, "Everyone's waiting for you Monoma! Let's go!"
Monoma was puzzled. "Waiting for me, why would they wait for me-"
Tetsutetsu either didn't hear Monoma, or just flat out ignored him, and the latter was probably the truth. Neito ended up being dragged by Tetsutetsu into the building, with Kendo trailing after them, still holding his boxes. As soon as he opened the door, however, the whole of his class screamed "SURPRISE!" as confetti was sprayed everywhere. A banner saying 'WELCOME BACK!' was behind them,and Monoma felt touched. And wait, was that cake behind Tsuburaba? Tetsutetsu turned to him with a grin.
"We decided to hold a housewarming party! And guess what Monoma," he smirked as if he was hiding a secret.
"What?" Monoma asked good - naturedly, rolling his eyes with a smile.
"You're the Guest of Honor!"
"What? Why me?" Monoma sputtered. It's not like he didn't want to be the guest of honor, but he couldn't help but feel that he didn't deserve that title.
"Because, you're still a part of our class. We were all worried about you last year during the exams, but now that we're all second years together, let's celebrate that fact!" Tokage explained, sauntering up to them, holding what looked like a friendship bracelet.
"Here!" she said, holding it out to him. He took it from her and just stared at it for the longest time. He eventually slipped it on, and it immediately felt natural. Like it was meant for his wrist.
"Thanks," he said with a smile. And then suddenly remembering part of what Tokage had said, "You don't need to worry about me." he added as an afterthought.
"We'll always worry about you Monoma, whether you like it or not!" Awase had come up from behind them, and Monoma visibly winced at his sudden presence but still appreciated the comment.
"Yeah!" Tetsutetsu confirmed, shining eyes looking at Monoma and smiling.
And at that moment, Neito couldn't help the widest smile he's ever done, so wide that his mouth starts to hurt, and he joins in the festivities of the day with his classmates- no. With his friends.
That is, until, Class 2 - A came trooping through the door. Monoma opens his mouth to demand an instant explanation for their presence, until he notices a small girl behind them. He just tips his head to the side, confused, until Kendo explains.
"So, you know how we have this party?" she asks rather slowly, probably looking for the right words. It was a wise choice. He wasn't the most rational when it came to 2 - A.
"So, what?"
"It's also a welcoming party for Shinso, to celebrate his move to the hero course."
"So I was double crossed." Monoma narrowed his eyes.
"No, we just forgot to tell you." He shot her a look. "Come on, please, Monoma," Kendo pleaded, trying to use her eyes to subdue him, as 2 - A watched, obviously awkward. The little girl who stood behind said Shinso left from his protective side and tugged on his shorts.
He paused from his little mind session to decide whether he wanted them to stay and looked down at her. She had big, pleading eyes, much better than Kendo's and said in a cute, small voice:
"Please let Toshi-nii and his friends stay..."
Monoma snorted. He really didn't know what was going on with him until that snort turned into full blown laughter, but why he was laughing, he'd never know.
2 - A looked to 2 - B, obviously wondering if this was normal Monoma behavior. The other class just shrugged, not knowing the exact line between normal Monoma and crazy Monoma just yet.
The girl who had asked Monoma whether they could stay seemed offended, and had no trouble mumbling, "No wonder you're part of the Dark Side..."
Shinso immediately gave a look to his sister who obviously held no remorse, and Monoma just laughed harder.
"Dark Side! Did you hear that Kendo? I'm part of the Dark Side! I need my Darth Vader costume, now!"
On the inside, it actually hurt him. Being called part of the Dark Side meant he was evil. Funny isn't it, you're in a school that tries to make you good, but you're actually evil. Did everyone think he was evil? That he was like Bakugou, and wanted to become a hero for the fame? To be number 1? That he had inferiority issues? And that a child, the same children he had vowed to save once he graduated, thought of him as evil? She seemed fine near Bakugou, so was he worse? Worse than Bakugou? Worse than a villain?
He couldn't bear to be in their presence anymore. He made himself look like he had calmed down, and went to bury his personal issues in the cake.
After Monoma had taken some of the cake (Kendo had to stop him from eating her share), he retreated to his room to get started on his unpacking. He technically had a week to finish, but he at least wanted to set up his bed so he didn't sleep on his floor. It would just add physical pain to the emotional pain he was feeling at the moment.
After a few hours of working, he had his bed set up. It was nothing too fancy, but the instructions to assemble were whack and he had to do it based on memory. It looked decent enough, so he was fine with it. At that moment, there was a knock on his door. He walked to the door and opened it, only to see Shinso at the door.
"Hey, I'm really sorry about what my sister said to you.." he trailed off, probably not used to apologizing. Out of Class 2 - A, he actually respected Shinso, being his partner in the joint training, an experience he'd actually rather forget at that moment. Just added to the list of times he's failed.
"Whatever, it's fine." Monoma huffed out, tired and not really ready to talk to other people at the moment. Especially the brother of the person who had indirectly crushed his entire view of himself. Shinso nodded and walked away, and Monoma finally could think.
Wait.
She's his sister?!
It had to be adopted, they looked nothing alike, but he should have known when she called him Toshi-nii.
He really couldn't afford to think about this right now.
He woke up the next morning, realizing he was still clad in his clothes from yesterday. He smelled horrible, and quickly scrambled to have a shower. When he came out, he greeted his classmates and went back to unboxing. Lying about his well being to his friends was almost as tiring to carry all of his boxes. He had left his door open, to allow for easy transportation as he moved from place to place. In his determination to finish that day, he had completely forgotten breakfast, at least, until Awase handed it to him.
"I don't need it." he had said, while grunting at moving another box.
"Monoma, it's 2 pm right now, and you haven't eaten anything since yesterday, and that was only cake. If you don't take it, I'll weld it to your body." Monoma knew better than to test Awase, and he suddenly remembered the time Awase welded him to a chair while Kendo spoon - fed him because apparently 'he was taking the midterm exams too seriously'. The feeling of being stuck to a chair ghosted his skin, so he took the tray from Awase and sat down to eat.
Did he take things too seriously? But he still didn't do well, even with all the time he put into training. Would it really help if he continued? He wanted to be a hero, no doubt, but would he be fit for the role? Monoma shook his head. He made it to U.A, 36th spot be damned. He did deserve this, because he made it by his own hard work, no one else's. HE was worthy, and working hard was just to yield good results.
Even with these affirmations in mind, the thoughts of not being enough still plagued his brain as he walked to class the next Monday, arriving early enough to clean the classroom so no one else would have to do it.
He first dusted the blackboard, then arranged the white chalk sticks. He then swept and mopped the floor, and dusted the seats. As he moved to wiping the windows, Vlad King walked into the room, trying to be earlier than his students.
"Morning Vlad-sensei!" Monoma greeted, while wiping the water off the windows.
"Monoma, I see you're early as usual."
The sentence was more of a statement than a question, but he still nodded and continued. Once he was done, he opened his bag and brought out his breakfast, a sloppily made sandwich that had an abundance of vegetables. Vlad King raised an eyebrow but didn't bother asking questions. Eventually, in groups, the rest of his class came. He greeted them all as they sat down.
Since it was the first day, everyone expected it to be a rather lenient day of school, at least less brutal than normal. Oh, how wrong, so wrong, they were.
Ectoplasm's math class had their brains literally melting, at least most of them. Monoma, Kaibara, Kendo and Tokage (aka the Smart Ones) had better luck than the most of them, ending up with everyone internally being jealous of them.
"I give up!" Tsuburaba declared, and he had the gall to go to sleep.
Then was English class.
Monoma was naturally good at English, with him learning it in childhood due to his grandfather being American and his grandmother being French. Some others were better at it than others, though the assignment given to them was a bit tough, even for him.
"Okay listeners!" the voice - hero shouted, causing his students to flinch. He wasn't even using his quirk for heaven's sake!
"We're going to collaborate with people from 2 - A to write a description of each other's quirks! All in English!" the blonde in the front of the room explained, causing his students to groan. "And your theme will be.... How Different Quirks can be Utilized for Hero Work!"
At that, Monoma scowled. He'd have to work with someone from 2 - A. Ew. "But that starts next week, so start preparing your notes!" the teacher added, sounding far too happy for it to be real. Everyone but Tsuburaba started, because he was still sleeping, even with Present Mic's constant shouting. It took a bleeding ear for him to finally wake up.
After that was some nice literature with Mr. Cementoss. The man was like a small break, no serious work being assigned to them, just giving them a small part in a play and telling them to read it out loud. At that point if anyone asked that class who their favorite teacher was, they'd say 'Mr. Cementoss' in a heartbeat.
Then came lunch. Oh so beautiful lunch. Monoma was so mentally exhausted from only the first three classes in the day that he didn't even bother trying to annoy Class 2 - A. That, and he was 16 now, and needed to stop acting like a baby.
Then came art history with Miss. Midnight, though he didn't want to recount the experience. That whip was hard.
After Miss. Midnight's art history class, they met with Thirteen so they could go over diagrams about how to properly save someone from the rubble of a collapsed structure, depending on where and whether they were injured badly.
And then, the last class of their first day. They stood at U.A's training field, dressed in the P.E uniforms, and were told by Vlad King that their assignment today was:
Quirk Assessment Testing.
Monoma had never done a quirk assessment test in middle school, his quirk being too versatile for the teachers to thing of an appropriate way to help him. When they did it as first - years, he was sick, and was excused from class. Now he was here, no excuses, and was waiting to hear how he would be tested.
"Everyone will be having a battle royale match." he started, looking up at them. Small whispers could be heard from the group of students.
"Against me."