Chapter Text
Mina Ashido:
She knew him.
She knew about him in a way that was more than just “passing knowledge” in the way that some of her new classmates might be aware of him, if they recognized his appearance or his name.
She’d wondered if that made her a bad person, back when she’d first found out about him, and even now that she was standing a few meters away from him, she still wasn’t entirely sure. But if it did, then she already knew that there were hundreds, thousands of others, who were just as bad as she was, with there being a good chance that at least a few others in this class were part of that number, with some of the glances toward him she’d seen. And that she knew she herself was guilty of.
And definitely dozens, if not hundreds, of others that were worse. Those were the types of people she hoped weren’t part of this class. Or in this school. (And if they were, she’d probably end up questioning why the heck UA let those kinds of people attend in the first place…)
Shaking her head free from that thought, Mina refocused on the boy who was currently standing at the edge of the 50-meter dash, limbering up a bit as the other boy beside him with large muscles and rather big lips got into his own stance against the footholds where she’d been just a couple of minutes ago. Meanwhile, the one she recognized was standing in the lane that an ashen blonde with some kind of explosion had just used a minute ago.
Her eyes went to the boy’s hair; its white color was similar to that of the other teen near her, who had half-white, half-red hair… Except the hair on the teen now crouching down and getting ready to run was a few shades starker.
She remembered when it was a rich brown, back when she’d first found out about him close to a couple years ago… Watching as he made his way through various metal halls, eyes darting around, every vent he came across making him go still to watch it for a few seconds before either making his way past it, or doubling back and searching for a different path, depending on what he saw…
“Runners, on your mark! Ready?!” The robot at the end of the course called out, and the two boys shifted slightly. Mina couldn’t see clearly from here, but she had a feeling that if she was up closer, she might see a familiar sight—one where the teen’s red eyes would glow just the slightest bit. And as the fake gunshot rang out, both boys pushed off the footholds, starting to sprint along the track.
The larger teen had the look of someone who obviously worked out, his muscles straining as he sprinted down the track. However, despite the difference in appearance, it was the one with the somewhat lankier build who pulled ahead, crossing the finish line almost a full two seconds ahead of the larger teen, the robot calling out “4.34 seconds!” as the white-haired teen skidded to an almost immediate stop, the movement practiced and efficient.
He didn’t show any signs of being winded as he turned to regard the robot for a second with a small smirk, before making his way back toward the group. As he did, Mina took the time to take in his expression. Most would think that after everything that happened to him, he might be closed off, maybe tense or jumpy around other people.
Well, that, or maybe they’d expect him to have a manic look in his eyes, ready to snap at a moment's notice. Or, that maybe he’d already have the look of some crazed killer. Except she didn’t see any of that. All that Mina saw when she looked at the face of the teen who was her new classmate was some satisfaction at the result he’d gotten.
Still, as she turned her attention to the next two walking up to the 50-meter dash, she supposed that technically, she couldn’t entirely blame anyone who held that opinion of him, even if it wasn’t true. After all…
That look had been exactly what people saw in his eyes for nearly a month straight, nearly a year ago…
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Eijiro Kirishima:
He grinned as he activated his Quirk along the length of his arm, down to the tips of his fingers, and clenched the device in his grip until it beeped. Once it did, he let his Quirk deactivate and let up on the pressure, bringing the machine in his hand up to read the number displayed there. 120kg! Sweet! Eijiro thought to himself as he clenched his other hand into a fist, proud of what he’d managed, before looking over the metal grip. Whoa, not so much as a single scratch on this thing. UA’s equipment sure is hella Manly! He exclaimed inside his mind, thinking about how, usually, whenever he used his Quirk, any piece of metal he gripped warped beneath his grip at least a little.
Glancing around, he saw a few other people nearby, although one grabbed his attention a bit more than the others. A head of stark white hair was only a few meters away, his own grip tester held in his hands as he looked it over for a few moments, before relaxing a bit, not gripping the trigger just yet. Then, after a couple of seconds, his body tensed, his knees bending slightly, and one arm reached out to his side, while the other, the one holding the machine, pulled back behind him, his body moving with the motion.
It was a position that Eijiro, and thousands of others, would be able to recognize after looking at it for just a few seconds… One that usually heralded a small flash of blue-gray light, followed by either a scattering of sparks as metal met metal, or a spray of blood arcing through the air.
He held his position for a few moments before his eyes snapped open as his hand suddenly clenched into a fist around the trigger of the machine, right before he brought the device swinging down. It didn’t hit anything, but the movement drew a bit of attention (at least, from those that weren’t already somewhat eyeing him) before he straightened up and looked down at the grip tester, the corner of his lips quirking up a bit. “Huh, 99. Woulda liked a full hundred, but not too bad.” He muttered, making Eijiro’s eyes widen a bit.
So manly! He thought to himself as the teen made his way over to Mr. Aizawa to have his score recorded. He blinked when he saw that, before letting off a small noise of realization as he jogged after the guy to do the same. Still, he couldn’t help but let his eyes follow the other teen as he moved to put his device down on a table nearby, a part of Eijiro wanting to go over and talk to him.
…The rest of him realized that the other teen probably wouldn’t want to discuss the same thing that Eijiro did, and in fact, might want to avoid it altogether.
…If he found out the other teen was fine with talking about it, though, then Eijiro was definitely going to share just how manly he thought the other teen was for getting through everything that he did.
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Izuku Midoriya:
He grimaced, cradling the hand with a broken finger with his other one as he fought through the blush in his cheeks, as the cute girl (Uraraka. She told him her name was Uraraka! He actually talked to a girl!) seemed to continue to worry over his injury, even as she backed down when he told her he was fine. However, his attention was drawn away from her when the next person stepped into the circle he’d left a minute ago.
He tossed the ball in his hand up and down a few times, readying himself. As he did, Midoriya couldn’t help but ponder what the white-haired teen would do. The various things he’d seen the teen go through, all the events he’d struggled to get past, but managed to push through and get out the other side… Izuku honestly couldn’t imagine what might’ve happened if he’d been the one to go through everything… As it was, he could only think about how he’d… Tried to do something at the time. Anything, once he found out about what was happening.
His focus had actually shifted away from Pro Heroes for a few days, every few weeks or months, whenever things had changed regarding the teen’s situation… He still wasn’t actually sure if anything he’d tried to contribute had done anything. It was probably the others who shared more reliable information with the teen who had helped him. More than he had, at any rate… He was just Deku, after all…
“The fact that you’re trying so hard for that young man… Along with all those other people who are doing the same thing you are... Make no mistake, young Midoriya. You don’t just have the capability to be a Hero… At this time, you’re already acting like a Hero. Just like that moment a few months ago, when you rushed out to save that boy.”
He shook his head after a moment as the words of his mentor went through his mind, clearing his thoughts as he turned his attention back to the present, watching as the teen in the center of the circle prepared himself. After a few seconds, his hand pulled back, his body shifting, and then his arm snapped forward, and the ball was sent flying through the air, eventually landing in the sand, bouncing, and then rolling to a stop after a few seconds.
“103 Meters.” Mr. Aizawa said, the teen rolling his shoulder a bit as he stepped back and started making his way back toward the group. There was no discomfort on his face, so it was likely just a motion he was making to pre-empt any stress that might arise from the accumulation of the various activities they were doing. Still, Izuku couldn’t help but keep an eye on him as another teen, the one with six arms, made their way toward the circle.
Izuku’s ears perked up a bit as the white-haired teen got closer to everyone else. “-been nice if I had a real-life Kinesis Module. Woulda sent it further. But, for a regular throw, it was still pretty good.” He heard the white-haired teen mutter with a small smile, and his mind immediately connected the relevant events to what he was talking about.
Two figures, both in high-tech suits, making their way through a mechanical area, one a bit shorter than the other. After a moment, the smaller figure paused, noticing a small, thin metal rod nearby, as well as something else close to him and the other figure. The two paused, sharing a glance. A moment later, the shorter figure outstretched a hand, and a beam of sorts was shot out, pulling the metal rod back toward him, where it hovered in front of him, pointing ahead. After a second, the figure flexed his hand, and the rod was launched forward-
Izuku grimaced slightly, as the thought led to… Other, much less pleasant thoughts and memories that occurred for the teen immediately afterward, and quickly shook his head to clear it as he turned his attention back to the field, as the six-armed teen threw the ball, making it fly further than the white-haired teen, but not nearly as far as he and Kacchan had managed.
He felt a small bit of pride in his chest, at that thought for a few seconds… However, he was unable to keep himself from grimacing again as his finger gave another twinge of pain a moment later.
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Shota Aizawa:
“-I’ll just pull up the whole list. It’s not worth going over each individual score.” He said, and after a moment, he pressed the button on the phone-like device in his hand, causing a hologram of the list of students to appear above it, where every teen turned their attention up to search for their names. He was already aware of who was in which position, whether at the top or the bottom.
However, he couldn’t help but let his eyes drift, near the top, but not quite as high as some of the others, one name standing out to him in particular in 7th place, just above the middle, but below the top-scorers.
Kyle Haruki
He glanced to the side slightly, seeing the teen in question staring up at his own name for a moment, before turning his attention down to his hand as he clenched and unclenched it a couple times, moving it down to his side and then looking back up to track the other names on the list. If Aizawa was honest with himself, Haruki was one of the few kids coming into this class that he’d already had some expectations for.
He was well aware of what the kid had gone through. The fact that he’d come to this school “more prepared” for most, if not all, of the other teens that were in his class. What he’d been through over the course of nearly two full years had made sure of that, even if there had been some “restrictions” in the actions he could take during that time, which wouldn’t translate well into similar scenarios he’d face in the real world. But that’s something he’d learn here.
Turning his attention away from the teen, he regarded the rest of the class again as he shut off the hologram. “And I was lying, no one’s going home.” He said, taking in the sudden silence and the blank faces on all the teens in front of him, letting his ‘creepy grin’, as Mic and Midnight called it, spread across his face. “That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests.” He told them.
Like a liar.
Still, the sight of so many of them freaking out did make him give an internal chuckle. One that got a bit darker when Momo Yaoyorozu, one of the recommended students, made it sound like she’d sussed out that “rational deception” from the start. She was wholly unaware that if Midoriya, or any of the students for that matter, had failed to rise to the occasion here, he would’ve expelled them for at least a day, before re-enrolling them.
His eyes glanced to the side again; however, as most of the students talked amongst themselves about his “deception,” most of them were surprised or relieved by the fact. All but one of them, at least.
Haruki was looking at him, his eyes narrowed slightly, making Aizawa’s ‘creepy grin’ become a bit more prominent on his face, which in turn made the teen blink, before rolling his eyes as he turned away from the man. Aizawa wasn’t surprised at the lack of reaction when compared to the other students, however. The teen had looked at worse faces, after all.
A large figure, stomping into the room to look around, his head shaved, his face covered in red splatters. After a few seconds, he started stomping in a specific direction, his face becoming clearer, making it easier to make out his beady eyes, and the large ‘grin’ that stretched across his face, showing off every one of his teeth. Reaching out, he wrenched open a locker door, and only a moment later, his arm shot into it, grabbing onto something inside-
…Much worse.
“That’s it, we’re done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning.” He told his students as he turned and started walking away, before pausing next to a certain green-haired kid who had just sighed in relief. “Midoriya.” He said, getting the teen’s attention. “Take this and go have the old lady fix you up.” He told him, handing the teen a slip for the infirmary so that Recovery Girl could look over the finger he’d broken during the ball toss.
Turning away from his student, he continued speaking. “Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you’re prepared.” He warned the teen, as well as the other students, as he started walking away, making his way toward the corner of the building that would lead him back toward the school…
As well as the blond musclehead who thought he had been hiding himself earlier, during the green-haired teen’s turn throwing the ball.
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AN: I’m gonna be completely transparent here: As much as I would’ve loved to include PREY in this story, due to my familiarity with it, I felt like that would’ve been taking too much from the games already included in LiD. I have Alien: Isolation, Outlast, and Dead Space here, as well as a Resident Evil game, even if it’s different from the ones Rogue included/will expand on later. Taking another game from the list in LiD, even if it’s a game I’m “much more familiar with” over, say, Amnesia?
Well, I felt like going with this route would probably have fewer people making those kinds of comments.
However, if people would be okay with me adding PREY to the list because of my familiarity, despite how “similar” it would make the game list to LiD… Then I may add it to the list, and/or replace one of the other games with it. That’s another part of why this chapter is a bit short, with only a few “vague” references to what Kyle went through in specific games that I will keep, even if any others get shifted around.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think so far! I’ve gotta give myself a bit of a refresh for certain information, and obviously I’ve got my other stories I’m working on as well, but I’m hoping that this one is something I’ll be able to keep writing for you all to enjoy!