Chapter Text
Today was the first day of UA high Schools new program to help traumatized kids become heroes. of course, when a teacher was needed, Aizawa volunteered, as he had some experience working with kids with trauma. Now, it was the first day of class, and Aizawa was standing outside the door of his new classroom and feeling a sense of anxiety he had never really felt before. He had years' worth of experience teaching, however, most of those students had been emotionally stable with relatively good home lives. He could not expect any of these new students to behave like normal kids who were raised in healthy environments. His usual rigid and strict way of doing things would not work here, and the idea of shaking up his teaching style was daunting, to say the least. He was not one to pass up the opportunity to help a bunch of struggling teenagers though, so he took a breath and pushed open the door.
Any chatter that had been going on stopped dead the moment Aizawa entered the room. 15 pairs of eyes stared intently at him, eagerly awaiting his next move. Aizawa broke the silence by saying,
“First of all, none of you are in any sort of trouble based on your previous disciplinary records.” Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at these words, as if they needed permission to exist without walking on eggshells. “Second of all, welcome to UA High School. My name is Shouta Aizawa, and I will be your guide to the wonderful world of heroism. I hope we can all eventually get along.”
“Third order of business, attendance. When I call your name, please give some indication that you exist and are here.” Without skipping a beat, Aizawa pulled out his roster and read off the first name.
“Ashikaga, Rei” Aizawa called, but no one answered. The room was silent for a minute before Aizawa sadly sighed and moved on.
“Chikafuji, Melody”
“That’s me” A short girl with milky white hair answered. Her eyes were black as night, and on her head was a green headband with two white, rabbit-like ears that stuck up above her head. her face bore a scowl, but her hands nervously clutched the strap of the brown messenger bag slung over her shoulder.
“Furukawa, Desmond”
“Present” replied a boy with piercing red eyes that matched Aizawa’s. His hair was light blond, and was kept in a short, thick braid that was draped over his left shoulder. His bangs were slightly shorter, ending around his chin, and they partially covered his right eye. His eyes were scanning Aizawa, as if he was analyzing every minute detail of him. It was unsettling, but Aizawa didn’t have time to think much of it.
“Hagimoto, Astrid”
“Present” answered a girl who had short, walnut colored fur covering her skin. Her fur blended into her hair, which was short and chestnut colored and stuck up above her head like a cactus. Her left eye was jet black, and her right eye was a bright fuchsia. A medical mask covered the lower half of her face, and she seemed uneasy, but not nervous like some of the others.
“Kiyama, Seiko” A shaky hand raised, and a trembling voice replied,
“pre-prese-ent” as if he was forcing the word out of his mouth. His short, messy hair was fluffy and light pink, framing his face and matching his eyes. He wore a gas mask over the lower half of his face, covering his nose and mouth. He put his shaking hand back in his lap, fisting his hands in his skirt. Aizawa took note of the way he constantly trembled, as if he was afraid of his own voice.
“Mimaki, Kento”
“Here” Replied a boy with a bored pout on his face. His slimy skin was a canvas of dark greens and yellows, and his head was completely bald. His eyes each had a shiny yellow sclera with black pupils, and he almost reminded Aizawa of a frog or a fish.
“Mochizuki, …Milk?” Aizawa tried and failed to hide the confusion in his voice. A shaky hand was raised.
“that’s me. sorry, my parents were weird.” The voice and hand belonged to a girl with hair that was white like her namesake. Her eyes were a deep brown, and freckles were scattered across her cheeks, which were bright red. Though her face was that of irritation and embarrassment, Aizawa couldn’t help but notice that something about her seemed really sad at the mention of her parents. That was a conversation for another time though, so Aizawa just said,
“I’ve heard weirder names before, you’re fine” and moved on.
“Monji, Naoka”
“Present.” Replied a girl sporting a smug grin. Most of her hair was very short and pink, but extending from either side of her head was a trail of spherical clumps, resembling twin-tails. Her eyes were large with black pupils, and she wore a pair of round glasses. She was sitting up straight, and her hands were neatly folded in her lap, giving off an air of grace and confidence. Aizawa couldn’t help but think that she reminded him of one of his students from class 1-A, however, he pushed that thought off to the side and carried on.
“Oda, Sachiko”
“Here” said a girl who seemed bored and paranoid at the exact same time. Her eyes were a medium violet red, and darted around the room, looking everyone up and down. In place of hair, she grew thick strands of multicolored yarn on her head, and they were tied up in two messy buns.
“Okazaki, Emi”
“Oh, That’s me! Me me!” A hand shot up and flailed in the air for a moment before it went down. The hand belonged to a girl with short, baby blue hair that ended just below her chin and messy bangs. Her eyes were a similar baby blue, and she had a toothy grin, showing off her sharp teeth. she dropped her hand down and flopped over the top of her desk, loosely gripping the edge, and kicking her feet underneath.
“Otero, Luci”
“That would be me” his hair was fluffy and orange, with small stripes of pink and green and yellow visible throughout. His eyes were a deep hazel, and freckles dotted his light brown cheeks. His face bore a scowl and his arms were crossed, but his leg bounced like a jackhammer beneath his desk.
“Otomachi, Komaru”
“Present!” the voice of a chipper girl echoed throughout the room. Her short and curly white hair faded to a bright red at the ends, matching her sharp red eyes. Partially obscured by her curls were what looked like the ends of two bullhorns on either side of her head. her hand reached to scratch the back of her head, drawing Aizawa’s attention to the grid of black holes on either side of her neck.
“Sasaki, Kaede” no one answered for a moment. Aizawa repeated “Sasaki Kaede”, and all of a sudden, a girl with short fluffy black hair punched the arm of the girl next to her. The girl straightened and upon noticing Aizawa looking at her, her cheeks turned red, and she sheepishly said,
“Oh, that’s me. Sorry” she clenched her fist and rubbed it by her collarbone. Her yellow hair was secured behind her with a deep green headband that matched her eyes. Her hair faded to a jet black at the ends, matching her rectangular glasses. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, revealing a hearing aid nestled within. Aizawa took a mental note of this and moved on.
“Shibata, Hitomi” Aizawa barely heard a soft hum coming from a girl at the back of the classroom. Her long hair was a silky light blond, and her eyes were a baby blue. Her face was entirely devoid of emotion, and she looked almost like a porcelain doll. It was off-putting, but there was no time to think about it, so Aizawa moved on.
“Tosaka, Cristina”
“Woof” she replied, eliciting giggles from some of her classmates. Her hair was a vibrant purple and hung by her hips on the right side. On her left side, it was almost completely buzzed, and only a few millimeters long. Her eyes were a slightly lighter purple than her hair, and her left eye lolled outward as opposed to her right eye, which stared straight forward. Her teeth were also unnaturally sharp, adding to her overall chaotic look.
“Tsutsui, Yuzuru”
“Here” the girl with the fluffy black hair said. Her inky black eyes were glued to her desk, and though her expression was mostly blank, the way she nervously picked at the patches of burned skin on her hands was a dead giveaway of her anxiety.
Aizawa checked all the names off besides Rei, and moved on
“Alright, now that we've taken attendance, I'll just get straight to business. I'm assuming you all know why you're here, but if you don’t know, it's because you all have had previous difficulties in school or other aspects of your life. Lucky for you, we teachers haven't given up on you. So, you have all been given the opportunity to study here at UA, where you will learn to be competent heroes and hopefully learn a bit about yourselves along the way.” That last line elicited groans from a handful of the students, but all of them seemed to be paying attention and were watching intently as if they were trying to make sense of everything he was saying.
Aizawa looked at each of his new students, each of them looking back at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity. It was as if each of them was silently asking him, is there truly hope for me to become a hero? Am I really not too far gone? Aizawa couldn’t help but think that behind each of these sets of eyes was a story full of pain and hurt, but a story that was not yet finished.
Maybe, just maybe, Aizawa could help make things at least a little bit better for these kids. That was a process that would happen over time though, so Aizawa simply ended his spiel with,
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you all. Class starts at 8:25 tomorrow, and I expect to see you all there.”