Chapter Text
The UA Class 1-A bus arrived at the National Takoba Stadium, immediately garnering the looks of some of the people present. Some stares were done in an idolizing sense, but most were competitive and vicious. You could say being in the presence of the hero school ranked first among all others does catch the attention of the majority. After all, UA, being a well-known hero school and all, had an unsurprisingly admirable reputation. Expectations were high, most especially for the rising Class 1-A after their numerous infamous encounters with villains which, with skill and luck, they survived.
Despite the piercing looks they received, they were still determined to achieve and succeed. They knew these types of things were to be expected of a hero, both in training and in the real world. To be a hero wasn't all about being one because you want to but willing to do endure all it takes to be one.
“Everyone! Please group in one place properly and accordingly! As UA students, we must set a good example so as to not embarrass the UA name.” Iida announced to his classmates while trying to form a decent formation out of the class. He belives that its part of his responsibility as class president to take initiative and be proactive.
Yet… To some’s dismay, despite their efforts of trying to stay calm and stoic, they were still affected by what seemed to be the inevitable dread and anxiety of whatever may happen.
“Umm… This is overwhelming. I'm getting kinda nervous.” Jirou muttered around the corner, her hands nervously clutching onto the straps of the backpack she wore.
“What would the exam offer? I wonder if I’ll be able to pass it and get the provisional license...” Mineta spoke, already doubting himself without having experienced even a bit of the exam. Idiots do tend to judge the outcome before actually beginning with it. Erhm... Not to say he was one, but he could be one.
“Mineta, don’t wonder if you can. Make it happen.” Aizawa called out, keeping his voice monotone. Though he doesn’t show it, he dearly cares about his students... well, in his own way that is.
Aizawa, after years of teaching, knew he had a unique style of teaching, clearly different from what was considered the norm. After all, there's no absolute right or wrong in finding your own way of expressing yourself. Compliments or "giving inspiration" wasn't his forte. He'd rather go with the scolding at most. Yes, those were his ways.
“O-Of course! Yes! I got this.” Mineta stuttered after the remarks of Aizawa-sensei. Unusually, he felt more hyped up after the advice/constructive criticism of his teacher even though it left him shaking to the bone.
“If you are successful in passing the test and gaining your own provisional license, then your novice hero eggs would become chicks, hatching into semi-pros. Kind of like an upgrade, or promotion, or however you want to call it. I expect you all to not take it half-assed-ly. Do your best.”
“R-Right! Let’s be pro-chicks then, huh?” Kaminari hoped.
The students were hyped up, sure they were still scared, but they were above all ready to get serious. As cliche as it may seem, they felt as if nothing could stop them from fulfilling their goal, no matter how hard it tries.
Unbeknownst to them, distracted by their huddle of some sort, an unnoticeable tall man wearing a distinct hat, white blouse, and dark pants gradually made his way closer to the huddle.
“Let’s go with the usual! As the motto goes, Plus-” Before Kirishima could finish the school’s motto with pride, the aforementioned tall man got to it first.
“UUULTRAAAAAA” The tall man yelled, catching the attention of the students. To see a tall energetic man yell your school motto ‘crazily’ isn’t something one sees every day.
“It’s extremely rude to barge in on other people’s huddles, y’know Inasa.” The purple-haired man arriving beside him lectured, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. He was clearly irritated.
“Really? THEN I AM. SO. VERY. EXTREMELY. TRULY. SORRY!” He once again yelled, this time bowing his head to the ground, unfortunately causing a wound to form. His enthusiasm really is unlimited, it seemed just then, however, the same enthusiasm led to not-so-wonderful things. Of course, his actions resulted in the bafflement of the UA students, but his fellow schoolmates, on the other hand, seemed very used to it as if it occurred every day. Maybe it did.
“What’s with this guy’s excessive enthusiasm?!” Kaminari blurted out, clinging onto Jirou as he was left intimidated by Inasa’s actions.
Though something in particular looked very familiar about the students. It wasn’t their faces, they were all but familiar. “Wait… Those uniforms!” Jirou widened her eyes in realization as she was attempting to push Kaminari off of her. What was bothering them was exactly that . It was their uniforms, well, hats to be exact, which she recognized and pointed out.
“I think it's that school from the west of Japan…” Kirishima picked up on it as well. The hats made it painfully obvious for anyone not to figure it out.
Who wouldn’t know Shiketsu High School? It’s an elite school that properly rivals the ‘famous’ UA, so its fame is to be predicted and well-deserved. It may not always be on the front page of the news unlike UA, it still remains its long-standing great reputation. Though it's (what most people say) second best, it shouldn’t be overlooked for it trained and produced some of the greatest heroes at present.
“UA in the east. Shiketsu in the west.” Bakugo cursed under his breath. Honestly, he didn't particularly hate the school, but a rival was a rival so he instinctively had to.
“PARDON MY INTRUSION. I REALLY WANTED TO SAY UA’S FAMOUS MOTTO EVEN JUST ONCE. I LOVE UA HIGH SCHOOL. IT'S AN INCREDIBLE HONOR AND OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE WITH YOU GUYS. I TRULY LOOK FORWARD TO IT!” Inasa shouted as his whole body stood stiff, blood still dripping from his head due to his careless actions which resulted in the clearly visible wound.
While all this commotion was taking place, a woman with shoulder-length fawn-colored hair was making her way to meet the Shiketsu students. She also wore Shiketsu’s signature hat which made her stand out along with the Shiketsu students. It seemed that the Shiketsu students present as of the moment weren’t their only competitions from the school, maybe one or two more students were to be expected? They could only guess.
“Hmm? Oiy Camie, why isn’t the general with you?” The purple-head, with his arms crossed and eyes slightly narrowed in somewhat suspicion, asked the fawn-colored girl while she slowly made her way to meet the Shiketsu group.
“Why? Miss him already?” She commented with a smug look.
Purple-head, out of rage and disappointment, eyed Camie. Eyes sharply glaring at the girl, almost enough to stab and kill her if it became physical.
She then proceeded to tilt her head away from the sharp glare. “Of course, Of course, I was kidding.” She followed with hands flapping around carelessly. She then paused and returned her gaze back to meet the purple-head’s disappointed eyes. “He told me that he would be a bit late since gathering and assembling his support items take quite a lot of time.”
Hmm… so it seemed that this ‘general’ may be more ‘support item dependent’ rather than ‘quirk dependent’. Most heroes don’t really rely on much support items, though they do use some of them to make some final touches here and there that help with quirk issues or serve as boosters. Usually, preparing one’s support items (along with the hero costume) doesn’t take quite a lot of time considering that the average amount of support items is 2-4. Assuming that ‘general’ has more than twice the average amount of support items heroes have, then preparing these support items would really take quite a lot of time. Theorizing this, would it mean that this ‘general’ owns and most importantly uses tons of support items? However, it was too early to assume.
“If we may ask, who’s the general ?” Iida asked out of curiosity. After all, the nickname “general” made quite the striking impression on him. Of course, as a fellow leader (since ‘ generals’ usually pertain to a commander of an army), Iida was eager to know who this person was.
Unlike the others who were too focused on this supposed ‘general’, Bakugo couldn’t care less about who the fuck it was. An extra was still an extra so why bother? He just wants to get his provisional license and move on. He didn’t need to be ‘chitty-chatty’ or interest himself with a bunch of extras to do so.
“He’s the first-year representative. Here in Shiketsu, we do things a little differently. Instead of having class reps, we have level reps.” A figure who was covered with hair from head to toe carefully explained.
Somewhere beside this hairy figure, you could see a tall man nod so eagerly. It was Inasa. “YES. OUR GENERAL’S VERY GOOD.” He, once again, shouted.
“Geez Inasa. You don’t have to shout every single time.” Purple-head bickered.
“I AM. VERY. EXTREMELY. SORRY. FOR. SHOUTING.” Inasa… of course, shouted (again) while attempting to bow his head to the ground. However, as he was about to, a certain individual caught his head this time.
“You shouldn’t turn your ‘bowing to the ground’ into a habit, Inasa-kun. Not only that, but you’re still bleeding y’know? Wouldn’t wanna worsen it.” A boy who was wearing the iconic Shiketsu uniform, along with a mask spoke without a stutter.
“SORRY GENERAL.”
‘General?’ Almost everyone thought in surprise. In shock that a small thin boy with hardly any muscular features could be the general. Well, it was normal for them to after all since their idea of generals were in some way ‘corrupted’ by what they saw on TV where they usually portrayed them as tall, strong, bulky men with very fine muscles. Don’t get them wrong though, they were only surprised, far from underestimating the boy. After their unfortunate encounters with various villains, they’ve learned it the hard way not to judge a person by appearance.
“ ‘ General ’ ? Quite a tacky nickname, I would say.” The general chuckled. “I’d rather be called by my actual name rather than that. It could make much of a fuss considering that Mora-senpai’s also a general.” He said, arms crossed and body leaned back in a sort of comfortable way.
As said before, generals (in Shiketsu) are level representatives which means there would always be more than one. Izuku strongly rejects the idea of being called ‘general’ due to the fact that Mora’s the second-year representative which means he also carries the title ‘general’. With all this, having more than one person has the nickname ‘general’ could create confusion and miscommunication which Izuku most certainly does not want. Even the slightest hint of miscommunication can ruin a very well thought plan, much like creating a domino effect.
“You’re finally here. Any special occasion for the mask?” Camie asked while she placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, looking over the surgical mask he was visibly wearing.
The ‘general’ placed a hand behind his head awkwardly, proceeding to open his mouth to explain, “Well... I may have caught a cold, though I’m not sure. Anyhow, it isn’t bothering me that much.”
Then he felt tension. He felt stares. How had he not noticed this earlier? Then and there, the boy only realized that almost everyone was staring at him. Except… for the explosive boy Bakugo who couldn’t even be bothered about anything that doesn’t concern his “mighty” self… Of course. He knew him too well.
“Ahh. Hello students of UA class 1-A! It's a pleasure to meet you all.” He said with a sweet smile, a ‘tooth-rotting’ one. “I am deeply sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am Izuku Midoriya!” He introduced and paused to look at a certain individual who happened to be staring at him with red ruby-like eyes that seemed to have the intention of piercing through him once the name was heard. His smile turned bitter as it corrupted from its former sweetness.
“Does that ring any bells, Kacchan ?”
Hearing that old sappy nickname from him felt as if someone gladly punched him in the stomach. It wasn’t nostalgia, definitely not. It felt more like different emotions and memories fuckin’ forcing their way into him. And he wasn’t fond of it. It stung. Badly.
‘Deku.’
Everything suddenly began to click for Bakugo. Izuku's features became visible and emphasized. Though he was wearing a mask, his emerald eyes could still be seen clearly. A portion of his curly green hair stuck out of the hat he wore. His voice, that annoying babyish voice that wanted to mumble every. single. time., sounded the same. And his figure, god that figure hadn't changed a bit from what Bakugo remembered when they were in middle school. He was still the Izuku he knew. At least, the appearance...
Bakugo was speechless. For the first time in ages, he had nothing to say nor react. Usually, he would scream, shout, explode, and pulverize whatever bothered him, but this time, he was quiet and calm?- no, not calm, definitely not calm. His heart felt as if it was about to explode. It kept beating faster, and faster, and faster. All these things happened but he didn’t know why. Why?
“Ah, would you look at the time? We should get going now! Sensei said to be there exactly 5 minutes before the deadline he gave us.” Izuku insisted.
The Shiketsu students agreed so they started walking to their meeting location. Despite their early leave, Izuku didn’t fail to create an 'out of the ordinary' exit.
“Looking forward to seeing you guys again later! Plus Ultra .” Izuku said with an angelic smile, waving with his seemingly frail hands, as he happily hopped instead of walking. However, the way he said UA’s motto conflicted them whether the boy truly loved UA, or not. It was bitter, and the boy had painstakingly made that obvious.
“Yoarashi Inasa…”
The students' attention from the greenette began to fade as it started directing to Aizawa who said a name, not just any simple name, possibly one of the Shiketsu student's name at that, so distinctively and directly. The way he said it sounded so serious and… problematic maybe?
Slowly, the Shiketsu students disappeared from their line of sight. Because of this, a student decided that it was safe to take courage in asking Aizawa-sensei a question. A question most of the students asked inside of their heads. They wanted clarification. They needed clarification.
“Do you know them, Aizawa-sensei? Or maybe, knew them?”
'knew' such a simple word but meant so much. It perfectly described Aizawa's relationship with them. He knew them.
Aizawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath before deciding to dive into a long discussion. “He may seem weird, but that guy’s strong.” he paused. “Last year, the same year you guys’ enrolled, Yoarashi got top scores for the recommendations’ exam.”
“So he’s a first-year?!” One student shouted, surprised due to the unexpected revelation.
Aizawa then crossed his arms and took another deep breath, preparing himself for the next, much more problematic one. “The other... small one… Midoriya Izuku.” He slowly said. Taking each and every word he said into careful consideration.
“What about him.” Bakugo callously spoke out.
“He may seem angelic and harmless, but it's all a facade. He’s one to be watched out for as well. He took the exam the same year, aced the written part of the exam, and got the highest score for the practical part.” He explained vaguely.
Bakugo quietly "tsk"-ed at the thought of how a quirkless shitty nerd like deku got a score higher than him. During the exam, he was too focused on getting scores that he didn’t notice the useless nerd getting some himself.
A few days before Nezu decided to confirm that the first-year hero course will participate in the said exam, he informed Aizawa of two particular students with whom they would be crossing paths. Both students were accepted into UA's hero course because of their staggering performance, however, surprisingly declined. He only informed him of their presence, nothing more. Not even a warning or such on them. Despite all that, Aizawa knows that there's so much more to what the principal said. He didn't know what was in that big brain of his, but he felt that it was necessary not to give them a heads up.
“Apparently, for unknown reasons, both students rejected the offer despite their outstanding performance.” He informed, remaining to still be perplexed by the two's unexplainable actions.
Aizawa always had this form of intuition which he usually doesn’t rely on. However, at present, his intuition strongly suggests for him to watch out most for the greenette, surprisingly not for the tall enthusiastic man. Though he doesn’t want to believe it, this time feels very oddly different.
He started to realize the principal's intentions. At least not thoroughly, but some major parts of it. At first, he thought that the reason for the principal's vagueness is to make them realize by themselves the importance of not judging your opponent from appearance, but rather in their applications in battle. Sure, they knew better than to judge the enemy based on the facade, but were they really aware of why? However, it kind of seemed odd for the principal's (who has an outstanding intelligence) objectives to be that simple. Then he suddenly remembered the greenette's appearance. How the greenette depended on support items. How the boy also lacked muscular features so it must mean that his quirk isn't something physical nor needed physical training. Despite all the seemingly disadvantages, he managed to be a general. A strong mental quirk like Nezu then? Then it struck. The principal's real intentions are for them to experience the element of surprise. From the greenette.
“Watch out for them. Especially the little one.”
While walking, Izuku aggressively removed his mask and unhesitantly threw it in the trash bin they eventually passed by. From the looks of it, he looked irritated and annoyed.
"Why did you remove it?" Asked the purple-head walking beside him, voice in monotone but is certainly concerned.
Izuku looks him in the eye and smiles. "I'm cured. Don't need it anymore, Shishikura-senpai."
There was a brief moment of silence that felt somewhat necessary? but uncomfortable... Until Camie attempted to change the silent mood.
“How did you know what time it was, Izuku?” She asked mostly out of curiosity. After all, at that time, Izuku had not looked at anything which could’ve projected time so how did he know?
“Oh. I didn’t. I tried guessing what time it was based on the sky. Y’know, the colors present and the weather? How much shades of pink, yellow, orange, blue, and other colors were present. Or how dark the sky was. To cut short, trying to tell time using the sky is possible but isn’t reliable…” He thoroughly explained.
Silence began to scatter, once again, before Izuku decided to continue speaking.
“Well. To be completely honest, it was just an excuse... I didn’t wanna be there.” He gradually added.