Chapter Text
The kids were six years old.
When Matsukawa started working for the Hero Public Safety Commission, he had no idea that he’d essentially be a kindergarten teacher one day.
Over the years he’d risen through the ranks, gaining more and more security clearance. His office hasn’t been above ground in ages. It was his own supervisor, Kuboyasu, who was in charge of the entire HPSC Future Heroes Project, code-named Project Upsilon. Kuboyasu was the one who pitched the idea of the Winged Hero: Hawks. Hawks was their guinea pig. Matsukawa spent the past six years observing and assessing the effectiveness of all the aspects of Hawks’ training. At 13 years old, Hawks was looking very promising. Promising enough that the higher-ups wanted to grow the program.
Now that they were bringing in more recruits, Matsukawa was given full responsibility over them. He was the expert on which training techniques were most effective, after all.
Over the past couple of years, Matsukawa and his team spent countless hours searching the country for the perfect recruits. There were thousands of kids with powerful quirks, but very few had the unique qualities that they needed. Finding Hawks had been a lucky score for Kuboyasu, but now that they were looking on purpose they needed to be extremely careful.
Each possible recruit must A. have a very powerful quirk, B. exhibit signs that their quirk can get stronger, C. be physically attractive and able-bodied, and D. pass their mental capacity standards. The recruit must also be in a position for the HPSC to acquire them with little push-back. Few parents were as amicable as Tamaki Tomie unfortunately.
The first recruit who managed to fit all their criteria was a boy from Musutafu called Bakugou Katsuki. Dangerous quirks like his are automatically flagged in the HPSC quirk database, so they found him as soon as his doctor documented his quirk. Explosion was an incredibly powerful quirk, perfect for a future pro hero.
From then on, Matsukawa had members of his team secretly observe the boy and his family. Katsuki showed all the signs of greatness. He was excelling in his classes and he was a natural born leader. A group of kids practically followed him everywhere he went. He was also the son of a supermodel, sure to inherit her good looks.
Observations of Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou found them to be shallow workaholics. They spent more time at work than home, and were easily pushed to put all their focus into work when just a little bit of pressure was applied. They had a fancy house, but sent their son to a run-down public school. Parenting was obviously not a priority for them. With some HPSC funds, Matsukawa’s team was able to increase business opportunities for the Bakugous overseas, to move their attention away from home. It didn’t take much convincing for them to agree to send their gifted child to the “elite boarding school” that had scouted him.
One of Matsukawa’s underlings found their next recruit through a teacher Faceboop group. The little girl’s kindergarten teacher was complaining about how one of her students kept breaking furniture with her quirk. She’d accidentally float chairs and tables up to the ceiling and they would break from crashing to the floor when she released her quirk. Gravity quirk users were rarely this strong. Uraraka Ochako turned out to be a cute little girl that made friends quickly. And her parents were dirt poor. Matsukawa managed to convince them to give her to the HPSC in exchange for a comfortable monthly paycheck, having one less mouth to feed, and visitation at holidays. An easy deal on the commission’s part.
Shinsou Hitoshi’s quirk also showed potential to be uniquely powerful. He could be an incredible asset for the HPSC as an underground hero. Mind control quirks were known to used for villainy, so it was good that they were starting him on the path to heroism now. Getting possession of him was almost too easy. The foster system was looking for somewhere to place him, so Matsukawa pounced on that opening.
Bakugou Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako, and Shinsou Hitoshi made up the group that the HPSC would call Class Zero. Hawks was the prototype, and now these three would be the inaugural HPSC hero class.
(Matsukawa hadn’t gotten the name “Class Zero” approved by the higher-ups yet, but he was proud of himself for thinking of the name. Zero because it was their first group of the program, Zero Gravity, Ground Zero (the center of an explosion), and… uh Zero Brains? Definitely nothing to do with Zero from Code Geass… haha…).
There were other promising kids that didn’t make the cut. One boy with a strong electricity quirk was almost recruited before they noticed that he was showing early symptoms of ADHD, dyslexia, and quirk-induced mental degradation. Dodged a bullet with that one. There was also a girl with a frog quirk that had some potential, but they ultimately decided not to proceed because animal mutation quirks are always more trouble than they’re worth. Hawks had all kinds of behavioral problems that were caused by his mutation— not to mention the cosmetic surgeries he needed.
Matsukawa already had all the preparations in place when he gained possession of the three recruits. Floor -36 was dedicated solely to them. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen, a classroom, three training rooms, two simulation rooms, and more space that could be used however they needed. Uniforms in the kids’ sizes were already here, the dietitian had created meal plans for the recruits, and the kitchen was stocked.
The recruits were all brought to the HPSC on the same day. Upon arrival, Matsukawa introduced himself as their handler.
“Starting today, the three of you are going to start your training to become the future top heroes of Japan,” he told them. They looked up at him with shock and wonder written on their chubby faces. “Since you’re going to be heroes, you need hero names. From now on, you will be known only as this name. Your new names are Dynamight, Levity, and Psyren,” he said, gesturing to each of them in turn.
Coming up with and deciding on their hero names had taken weeks. Dynamight was the easiest. It was the most obvious choice— it fit perfectly with his quirk, gave homage to All Might, and was memorable. Levity took more thought. ‘Levity’ is an antonym of gravity, and the girl’s quirk nullifies gravity. ‘Levity’ is lighthearted and humorous, not grave and serious. The team also considered calling her Midair, but they ultimately decided that Levity had a better ring to it.
Coming up with Psyren’s name was the biggest challenge. There were so many different possibilities. Matsukawa was hoping he could convince the team to make his name a reference to Code Geass, but Leloush sounded too silly and Zero was already the name of the class. They considered putting ‘Commander’ somewhere in the name, but that would open him up to ‘commando’ jokes. The name ‘Controller’ was too boring. ‘Demind’ didn’t have enough pizazz. ‘Mindwash’ was misleading. A few foreign-inspired names such as ‘Simon’ were considered and ultimately vetoed because the perfect Japanese hero must have a Japanese name. It was bad enough that the current number one was America themed.
Dynamight raised his hand, his eyebrows furrowed. Matsukawa nodded for him to speak. “My hero name is King Explosion Murder,” the child said with a pout.
“Dynamight,” Matsukawa began with a sigh. “That name is too long to write in the headlines. We also don’t want people to think that you’re a killer or a monarch. Both of those have pretty negative connotations and we only want people to think good things about you.” There were many other reasons, but he kept his explanation concise. It was tempting to not explain it at all, but it was very important to leave a good impression with the kids in these early stages of the project. By explaining, he’s making Dynamight feel respected, which will make him respect Matsukawa in return.
Dynamight let out a “Tch,” and glared at the ground. Looks like he was going to be a stubborn little guy. Not for long.
Levity raised her hand. “What does ‘connobation’ mean?”
“Connotation is like the feelings we associate with a word.” He’d have to remember to speak more simply until they were better educated. “Ok class, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, it’s time to go see the doctor. We need to make sure you’re all strong and healthy so you can become heroes.”
Luckily the children didn’t put up too much of a fuss and waited patiently with some books while taking turns seeing the doctor. They must be nervous being in such a different environment.
Doctor Fujiwara was the head of medicine for Project Upsilon and for some of the HPSC’s other projects. Today, she was just taking measurements, blood samples, recording other medical data, and inserting trackers. A few years down the road, she’ll be making all kinds of important medical decisions for the kids, as well as monitoring their hormones, tracking their growth, and making sure their sterilization and any cosmetic surgeries go well.
The kids each changed into their uniforms while they saw the doctor. The last to have her check up, Levity returned with watery eyes. Inserting the tracker was painful. Matsukawa could tell that the boys were also uncomfortable after the procedure, but they put more effort into masking their pain. Levity looked like she was about to break down, so Matsukawa interfered. “There, there,” he said, gently patting her little head. “Soon, you won’t be able to feel it anymore. Now that we’re all done with checkups, let’s go eat lunch.”
The children needed rich, nutrient-dense, high-protein meals so their bodies could grow strong and build lots of muscle. As they get older, they’ll have diets specifically catered to their physical needs. For now, all three recruits would be eating the same nutritious meals. Considering their different upbringings, Dynamight was likely the only one of the three who had grown up without missing any meals.
As they sat down to eat though, Dynamight surprised Matsukawa by saying, “All this food’s gonna make us fat. Do you know how many carbs rice has?”
Matsukawa’s incredible professionalism kept him from reacting. What the fuck was a six year old doing worrying about carbs? Fashion culture had obviously had an impact within the Bakugou household. He glanced at the other recruits. Levity and Psyren paid Dynamight’s words no attention as they scarfed down their food.
Glad that Dynamight didn’t seem to be influencing the other kids, Matsukawa addressed him. “Everything you eat here is specifically chosen by Dr. Fujiwara and her staff to make you grow strong. As you grow, they will adjust your diet so that you never get fat and perform optimally. Now eat.”
Dynamight looked skeptical but slowly picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. There were no more complaints.
Most parenting advice says that kids should be kept on a schedule. Class Zero’s schedule was strict. It taught them discipline. The fact that Matsukawa had an entire facility and team dedicated to these kids made it relatively easy. As the handler, Matsukawa’s job was just to make sure the recruits and the teaching/cooking/medical/etc. staff did what they were supposed to.
Each day, Class Zero was expected to meet up for breakfast at 7:30, where food would be waiting for them. They had to be dressed, with rooms clean, faces washed, and hair and teeth brushed each morning. Each recruit had a personalized hair and skincare routine.
After breakfast was class. They learned regular kindergarten material. With only three students, they could move through the curriculum at a much faster pace than normal schools. Dynamight was a quicker learner than the other two, but that wasn’t a problem since they had the resources for individualized tutoring. They also did some peer-mentor type learning, where the children taught each other. This helped with their communication skills as well as their learning.
Free time was the next part of the schedule. Kids needed time to let loose and be creative, which helped them stay focused for the rest of the day. Here, the students could choose between multiple activities. They could run around and play on the jungle gym (building body strength), or they could draw or color (motor skills). The plan was to decrease the kids’ free time a little more each year until they could easily work for days on end as pro heroes.
Once they’d gotten some energy out and refreshed their minds, it was time for more class. This segment of the day focused on useful skills, such as foreign languages, manners, and typing. As they got older, they’d use this time for things like comprehensive media training, interrogation training, torture resilience training, torture infliction training, computer and technology skills, vehicle operation, underwater operations, disguises, firearms, battle strategy, and public speaking.
Next was lunch and then naptime. Can’t forget that they’re still only six years old.
Physical and quirk training was the most important part of the day. They all had the same physical training— stretching, running, upper body exercises with the monkey bars, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, martial arts, etc. For quirk training, each student had their own trainer. Psyren also needed multiple people to use his quirk on during his training sessions. Each day, the students would practice their quirks and push their limits. Their trainers were in charge of crafting new ways to apply their quirks to heroics.
As they stumbled upon issues, measures were taken to fix them. Dynamight was required to drink twice as much (or more) water throughout the day so he could create more sweat. Levity’s diet was changed to exclude foods that were more likely to make her puke. Psyren began breath and vocal training and started drinking medicinal throat-soothing drinks with his meals.
Showers, dinner, and rest time came after training. Sometimes they put on a well-known movie or TV show so that the future heroes wouldn’t be completely out of the loop from the rest of Japan. They used this time to ice any sore muscles as well. Bedtime was 8:00.
Saturdays had a slightly differently structured schedule. Eating and sleeping times stayed the same, but they would do more interesting things than their normal classes and training. Matsukawa or his assistant would arrange for them to go on field trips and see what real life is like. They couldn’t just spend 12 years inside the HPSC building. When the class grew up and became heroes, they needed to be able to fit in with everyone else. They had to learn stuff like how grocery shopping works and how to order food at a restaurant.
Outside of taking care of Class Zero, the Project Upsilon team kept tabs on the Bakugou and Uraraka families. With carefully manipulated funds, they were able to keep both families occupied with work. The Bakugous were having great success with their business in Europe. The nature of their work required constant attention in order to build their brand.
Meanwhile, the Urarakas were still struggling to find success with their business in Japan. One contract could only just cover their expenses for a short amount of time. It seemed that none of their marketing attempts were working. They relied on the monthly paychecks from the HPSC.
Shinsou Ami was taken care of via “drug overdose.” She could have caused some problems for them down the line if she ever decided to look for her son.
The children were better off now that Matsukawa had them. The HPSC gave Class Zero more attention and care than they ever could have gotten in their former situations. They would become the best heroes Japan has ever seen.
Katsuki always knew he’d become a hero. Everyone knew it and they always told him so, especially since he’d gotten his quirk. This new life at hero training school was different in unexpected ways though. Before, he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He chose what to wear (outside of school), how to talk, who he talked to, what games to play, what his hero name was... Now everything was different. People didn’t fawn over him like they used to. That part at least was sort of refreshing. He preferred it when people were genuine and straightforward. He also had more guidance now. He didn’t need to figure so much shit out for himself, so it was almost easier in a way.
The change he really hated though, was not being able to go outside. He missed the wind and the rain. He wanted to play in the creek again. He liked being clean, but he wanted to be able to get muddy and dirty again. He wanted to look for cool bugs in the woods and climb trees. Climbing stuff indoors wasn’t the same. He wanted to feel surrounded by nature again and breathe in the fresh air.
There was an ache in Ochako’s chest that she couldn’t ignore. It started when she woke up in the middle of the night, heart beating out of her chest. Her nightmare was scary. But what was even scarier was the realization that she couldn’t crawl into her parents’ bed for comfort. She didn’t even have a stuffed animal to cuddle. The room was pitch black and dead silent besides the sound of her own breathing.
Being Levity was difficult and lonely. Ochako realized right then that she hadn’t been hugged since she last saw her parents.
She wrapped her blanket tighter around herself and curled into a ball. Then she came up with a plan.
That morning, as she met up with the boys for breakfast, she went to Psyren and gave him a hug. She felt him stiffen in surprise at first, but then he relaxed into it and gently hugged her back. Miraculously, no one made them stop.
They didn’t let go until Dynamight pointed out that they were running out of time to eat.
From then on, Ochako decided to try to hug Psyren and Dynamight every day. Maybe she could lean against them during meals or rest time too.
Ochako missed her parents, but she didn’t miss her old life. Here, she had nice clothes that fit. She ate great meals every day and never felt hungry. She was never too hot or cold because the air conditioning or heating wasn’t working. She never felt jealous of the other kids at school over their cute shoes or backpacks. She never had to wait at home, alone, for her parents to get back from work. She didn’t have to see her parents’ faces stressed, sad, or guilty when they were worrying about bills or apologizing for not being able to help her with homework or listen to her stories.
She was glad she was here. The one thing she would change, besides having her parents here, was getting to see the sky more often. She hated how this place didn’t have any windows. She missed the clouds and the stars and the sunset and the moon. The only time she ever got to see outside these days was on Saturday field trips. At least once she became a hero she could do whatever she wanted.
Hitoshi liked his new home. No one hated his quirk here. They liked it. They wanted to help him get stronger, strong enough to be a hero. The rules were clear. The adults explained everything he needed to do and none of it was too hard. Well, training was really hard some days, and he would get headaches and muscle aches, but he always had time to rest afterwards.
His bedroom was quiet and dark. He liked that he didn’t have to share it with anyone. Other kids needed nightlights and snored, which made it really hard to sleep at other homes. He also had a soft bed now. There were no springs digging into his back, and the room was always the right temperature.
His new foster siblings were also good. Dynamight was loud and blunt, but he was also really cool and smart. He was good at cartwheels and could do his math super fast. Levity was really nice and funny. She made silly faces and gave warm hugs.
His teachers and friends always gave him attention and always included him. It was good here.