Chapter Text
Matsukawa walked to school, in the middle of a pack of students like himself, some new and some old. They were all clothed in the school's standard winter uniform, most with winter jackets overtop. A few, probably climate controllers and fire mages, went without jackets. Unfortunately, Matsukawa occasionally enjoyed the suffering of others, which meant no magic for anyone, including the poor jacketless students. As the drew nearer to the school, one boy finally started shaking his fist. "Come on! Who is neutralizing my magic? I'm freezing my ass off over here!"
Matsukawa kept quiet until he was inside school grounds, where he was promptly attacked by Oikawa, a grumbling Iwaizumi following a few steps back.
"Good morning Mattsun!" Oikawa was smiling as usual, the sun already shining around him and several girls screaming in the distance. Oh, how Matsukawa hadn't missed Oikawa's surprising natural charms.
"G' morn. How was your summer?" Matsukawa let out an involuntary shiver and began walking towards the school. Oikawa was already beside him, Iwaizumi now caught up and ready to defend himself against Oikawa's retelling of the summer.
"Well, I went to the fire festival with Iwa-chan. It was really cool until a water mage showed up and began wreaking havoc! Let's see... Then I went to Hokkaido with Iwa-chan. You should have seen his muscles in the hot springs."
"You didn't see anything because you refused to get near the actual water." Iwaizumi opened the school door and the three filed inside.
Oikawa smiled sadly as he stowed his shoes. "I guess so. Well, how about you Mattsun?"
"I took care of my bratty siblings and went for evaluation," Matsukawa took off his winter coat and pointed to his shoulder. "They decided that my power is military class, as a final decision after years of transferring into different classes. My mother wasn't happy that she had to buy me another uniform."
Oikawa gasped at the sight of the grey stripe on the sleeve of Matsukawa's blazer. "You won't be with me anymore!"
Matsukawa shrugged. "I don't really know why I was put in the static powers class, considering I can disable the whole school if I want to."
Oikawa swatted Matsukawa on the back of his head. "I'm not weak, just reserved."
Matsukawa smirked. "You can see an hour into the future if your body decides to cooperate, big deal. Iwaizumi-kun on the other hand, could level this whole school without breaking a sweat."
Oikawa chewed his cheek in a pouty way, obviously admitting defeat. Matsukawa chuckled and waved to the two. "See you at lunch."
Matsukawa walked towards the military interests classroom, feeling rather overwhelmed. Sure, Matsukawa was a tall guy with enough power to shut down the nation if he wanted to, but he was pretty soft. He seriously spent his spare time spamming his friends with memes, cooking, and running until he felt lazy. Compared to most military class kids, Matsukawa was probably a hot cheeto dust smear on a pair of sweatpants.
"Well, if it isn't our favourite eyebrows boy!"
Matsukawa smiled and sent a lazy wink to Futakuchi, who was leaning against the military class' main door. "G' morn, salty boy."
Futakuchi rolled his eyes and smiled. "See you in class."
Matsukawa walked inside, saying a lazy greeting to his new classmates. Immediately, he spotted a few government-mandated controls on his classmates. A cute girl wore an eyepatch over her right eye, a tired-looking boy wore gloves, and another girl, this one tough-looking, had her arm in a sturdy looking sling. Immediately, they all relaxed with Matsukawa's neutralizing powers in play. The bell rang seconds later, Matsukawa taking a seat close to the back, far away from the window. A few slackers strayed in, seconds before the teacher. Among them was another boy with a mask over his mouth.
"Alright, settle down and we'll start with introductions."
The class quieted down and the teacher smiled. "You can call me Teacher. I work in the military intel division. Limited chronokinesis. Next!"
The cute girl stood up. "My name is Yachi Hitoka. I'm a first year. I have a flaw detecting eye." She pointed to the eyepatch, which had little flowers on it upon closer inspection.
A few irrelevant students passed before the tired-looking boy stood up. "Ennoshita, second year. I have something close to omnipresence."
Futakuchi stood up as Ennoshita sat down. "I'm Futakuchi Kenji, second year. I can talk."
Teacher crossed her arms. "Please repeat that in more legible terms, Futakuchi-kun."
Futakuchi rolled his eyes and leaned against the window to his left. "I can talk any language and decode any code."
Introductions continued, Matsukawa slowly tuning out as they went on. So far, the noteworthy were Yui, the arm-sling girl who touched things and turned them into something else, Kunimi, who could avoid anything, including humans, and Kenma, a technological genius. They were nearing Matsukawa, who was now paying slightly more attention as the introductions also got closer to the boy with the mask and pink hair. A freckled boy stood up, barely opening his mouth before being interrupted by the classroom door slamming open. Teacher looked over and time seemed to stop for a moment before resuming.
"Tendou-kun, sit down NOW!"
The newcomer walked in, giving the class a view of his mischievous face and vibrant red hair. "My name is Tendou. I am in year three. I control people."
Teacher impatiently tapped her foot as Tendou walked to his desk at a painfully slow pace. He stopped to tap the masked boy on the shoulder, smirking and sticking his tongue out when he received a glare. The introductions continued, skipping the boy who was interrupted and going through Terushima, who could teleport, and Akaashi, who could empathize with anyone. Then came the pink haired boy. Matsukawa sharpened his ears as the teacher called on the boy.
"Who's next?" She glanced at the pink haired boy. "Hanamaki?"
The boy didn't look up. He continued to tap on his phone. Teacher began tapping her foot again. "Hanamaki-kun, your introduction."
He still didn't move. "HANAMAKI!"
Hanamaki finally looked up, his narrow eyes even more narrowed. He pointed to his mask and held up three fingers before pointing back to himself. Matsukawa was intrigued and forced himself to look away. He didn't want to be caught staring. The introductions closed off, Matsukawa introducing himself before a small boy named Moniwa closed off. The teacher stepped up as if to begin a lesson, but the bell rang before then. She pressed her lips in a thin line.
"As most of you know, it's time for magical practice. I'll lay out the basic rules very quickly. First, you aren't allowed to do anything destructive or malicious. Second, if your power directly interferes with someone else's, take turns. Third, if you need objects to practice on, there are practice materials in the back of the class."
The class began moving, Matsukawa reclining in his chair and bringing out his phone. Teacher approached him with an over-friendly smile. "I'm afraid you'll never be able to practice. Truthfully, I'm not sure why you are still in school."
Matsukawa shrugged. "S'all good. I still gotta learn the military tactics."
Teacher nodded thoughtfully and glanced over her shoulder. "Maybe you could keep Hanamaki company. He's not allowed to practice. Honestly, he should just be in a laboratory."
Matsukawa almost choked on his own spit. A professional had seriously just bashed a student and given them a sub-human status. He turned to look at Hanamaki, who was staring at him with an amused look. Matsukawa took this as his cue to walk over and talk to him.
"M' name is Matsukawa Issei but you can call me anytime." Matsukawa flashed a peace sign and sat down in the chair in front of Hanamaki's desk. Hanamaki's body vibrated with what Matsukawa hoped was laughter. Matsukawa smiled at Hanamaki.
"Have you ever seen that video? It's the ultimate pickup line."
Hanamaki nodded slowly before sliding an envelope over to Matsukawa. Matsukawa took it cautiously, looking it over. Hanamaki motioned for him to open it. Matsukawa obeyed, rudely ripping the side open and pulling out the small card. His eyes widened when he saw the rarest of pepe memes, the shrek pepe. Beneath it was written 'you meme a lot to me'. Matsukawa smiled a wide smile and flipped over the card. On the other side was 'Hanamaki Takahiro, meme lord, mlg, atheist vegan feminist, and contract killer', followed by 'My name is Hanamaki, but you can call me anytime-3859348573'. Matsukawa smiled even wider and pocketed the card.
"Unfortunately, I don't have a business card, but I can give you my phone number."
Hanamaki shrugged and began fiddling with his phone. Matsukawa's smile faded into his usual lazy grin.
"You don't talk much, do you?"
Hanamaki unlocked his phone and began to type, handing the phone to Matsukawa seconds later.
'Not allowed.'
Matsukawa felt a bit bad for asking. "Sorry."
'Its fine u wanna know wat my power is?'
Matsukawa shrugged. "Only if you're up for it."
Hanamaki nodded. 'voices so loud it kills people'
"Fair enough. So, what's your favourite meme?"
'how dare u make me chose! 1. pepe 2. taylor swift snake 3. illuminati 4. caveman spongebob 5. harambe'
Matsukawa smiled. "Good selection. I think I like you. You wanna be the pupper to my doggo?"
Hanamaki tapped his phone furiously. 'YOU ASSHOLE IM PROBS OLDER THAN U!'
Matsukawa rolled his eyes playfully. "Do I have a partner in memeing or not?"
Hanamaki nodded and they launched into a discussion about the tragedy of Leonardo DiCaprio's oscar.
The practice period ended too soon for Matsukawa's liking, but that didn't restrict him from sending the occasional eyebrow wiggle to Hanamaki during military strategies class, even though that was the class Matsukawa was supposed to be paying the most attention to. Hanamaki would attempt and fail horribly at wiggling his eyebrows back, cracking them both up and occasionally drawing Teacher's attention.
"Matsukawa, if the opposing side has airplanes, what would you do?"
Matsukawa glanced over his notes. "Find a lightning, fire, climate, electrical, or air mage to shoot it down. Or I'd give it a shot, seeing as most cars are magic operated."
Teacher gave both Matsukawa and Hanamaki suspicious looks before continuing the class. Matsukawa glanced over at Hanamaki, who was now scrolling through something on his phone. Matsukawa let him be and continued half-assedly listening to Teacher's lecture about the dangers of bringing out laboratory dwellers.
Before Matsukawa could reach Hanamaki at lunch, he was surrounded by another group of classmates. One immediately grabbed Matsukawa's hand and squished it.
"Holy shit! You really can neutralize anything!"
Matsukawa shrugged. "'s not really that great."
The girl, Yui maybe, smacked Matsukawa's arm pretty goddamn hard. He forced his smile to stay present. His other hand was also taken and immediately Terushima jumped in Matsu's face.
"How do you like military class? I think it's pretty great except gym class."
Matsukawa paled. "Gym class?"
Before Terushima could reply, someone jumped on Matsukawa from behind.
"Guess who!"
"Narnia." Matsukawa received a smack on the head from Oikawa.
"Rude!" Oikawa climbed down. "Ready for Oikawa's super secret lunch club on the roof?"
Matsukawa turned around and looked over Oikawa. Hanamaki was still sitting in his desk, an untouched bento box in front of him.
"Hold up. I'm bringing a friend. Trust me, you'll like him."
Oikawa nodded and turned to the classroom door. "Meet you up there."
Matsukawa approached Hanamaki's desk. "Hey. Wanna eat lunch with me and my friends?"
Hanamaki took out his phone. 'It's 'my friends and I. And yeah sure.'
Matsukawa chuckled. "Let's go."
The main part of lunch went flawlessly. Oikawa was constantly getting roasted by both Matsukawa and Hanamaki, with Iwaizumi cheering them both on. Then, when they were packing up, Iwaizumi paused in his cleaning.
"Hold up. If Hanamaki can't talk because of his powers, wouldn't Matsukawa be able to neutralize it so he could?"
The three other boys stopped and looked up. Matsukawa looked at Hanamaki, who was already typing on his phone. "How about it?"
Hanamaki finished his typing and pressed a button, the phone speaking what he had written in an artificial voice. "It sounds like a good idea on paper. Unfortunately the government has made it clear that if I ever talk, I'll be relocated to the laboratories."
Oikawa frowned. "Fair enough. Iwa-chan, let's go. It was nice meeting you Makki. Eat with us from now on."
Hanamaki nodded and turned to Matsukawa as Oikawa and Iwaizumi left the roof. "Did I piss them off?"
Matsukawa shook his head. "Oikawa doesn't like talking about the laboratories. That's where his little brother lives."
Hanamaki nodded again. "That's unfortunate." His phone read out.
Matsukawa shrugged. "Unfortunately, that's life. Wanna head back to class?"
Hanamaki nodded and started towards the door.
Their next class was gym, and Matsukawa was honestly scared. Would his gym class be like the static class'? Obviously, it would be a bit different. Oikawa's class played regular games like capture the flag and dodgeball while playing with their magics. Allowing the military kids to do that would be murder, so it must be games without magic. Matsukawa nodded to himself. Yes, that must be it. He shrugged on his jacket and joined Hanamaki, who was waiting at the door and not changed at all. Hanamaki grabbed the edge of Matsukawa's jacket and rubbed it in between his fingers.
"What?" Matsukawa asked.
Hanamaki shook his head and continued leading Matsukawa towards the recreational field. The whole class was already out there, all doing different activities. Some were jogging, some were stretching, some were using magic. Matsukawa looked at Hanamaki for guidance, but it was too late. Hanamaki was already seated on a bench and scrolling away through his tumblr feed. Luckily, Teacher noticed and was already jogging up to Matsukawa.
"Warm up and we'll begin class."
Matsukawa raised an eyebrow. "What am I warming up for?"
Teacher smiled. "Combat. Practice your magic or stretch your arms. Maybe jog a bit."
She left Matsukawa, who decided his warm up would be standing and stretching his shoulders. After all, his magic did him no real good. He had to rely on the half-assed street fighting classes his dad gave him when he wasn't busy with work. Matsukawa swung both arms in a few circles and relaxed, just beginning to walk over to Hanamaki when the teacher called the class over.
"I finished the draws. Yachi and Sarukui are fighting first. I'll quickly review the rules, then we'll start. First, you are not to involve anyone outside of the duel. Second, the fight ends when one of you stops breathing. Third, all students who are not fighting are to stay on the outside of the track. Fourth, no property damage aside from the arena itself. Are we clear?"
The whole class responded with "Yes ma'am."
Yachi and Sarukui walked to the center of the track, a grassy area with a box on each end. Teacher walked to the center of the track.
"Stand on your box."
Yachi and Sarukui both moved to their boxes.
"The fight begins now."
Yachi ripped off her eyepatch, her eye already glowing green. It stayed green as Sarukui dropped to the ground and got up. As he did this, several copies of himself rolled off and ran in different directions, all towards Yachi now. Yachi's eye turned red and she picked up a rock, throwing it at one of the Sarukui bodies. The rock hit him square in the forehead, the rest of the illusions flickering. Yachi began throwing more now, hitting the same body in several places. The illusions got dimmer and dimmer until another rocky hit Sarukui's head. Then the illusions vanished and the original Sarukui collapsed. Yachi approached and crouched beside him, taking a pulse. Before anything else could happen, time seemed to stop and when Matsukawa blinked, the fight was just beginning.
"It was a tie. Next up is Matsukawa and Ennoshita."
Matsukawa paled. Him already?! He shook his head. "I really don't want to fight. I'm going to be working in a laboratory. I'll never have to fight."
Before Teacher could protest, Matsukawa retreated to the bench Hanamaki was sitting on. No way would he ever beat one of his own classmates to death with his fists. Never.
Hanamaki handed over his phone. 'Good job, putting your foot down. Next time, we'll skip class.'
Matsukawa smiled. "Thanks pal. That sounds like a good idea. Now, what's your tumblr URL. I've gotta go stalk your blog."
Hanamaki smiled and opened his app, the two going through memes until the class ended.