Chapter Text
Chapter 1 — The Youngest Student
U.A. High School had seen plenty of unusual students. Students with explosive tempers. Students who could walk through walls. Students who could create objects from their bodies. And, on one particularly memorable occasion, a student who had accidentally glued himself to the ceiling during orientation.
But Chloe Cerise was unusual even by U.A. standards. She was a year younger than most of Class 1-A. And somehow, that wasn't even the strangest thing about her situation.
"Everyone, settle down."
Mitchell stood at the front of the classroom wearing his Pro Hero costume beneath an open U.A. teaching jacket. Becoming a licensed Pro Hero at his age had already attracted plenty of attention. Becoming a U.A. teacher immediately afterward had attracted even more.
Aizawa stood beside him, looking exactly as enthusiastic about the morning as Aizawa usually did. Which was to say, not at all.
"This is Mitchell," Aizawa explained. "He's joining U.A. as a Pro Hero instructor and teaching Hero History."
Kaminari raised his hand. Aizawa stared at him. Kaminari slowly lowered it.
"Good question," Aizawa said.
"I didn't ask anything."
"Exactly."
Mitchell struggled not to laugh. Aizawa continued. "Because of his age, this arrangement is unusual. Principal Nezu has approved it. Mitchell's authority regarding assessments will also have limitations where conflicts of interest exist."
That caused several confused expressions. Then the classroom door opened, and Chloe stepped inside.
"Sorry! I couldn't find Classroom 1-A."
Mitchell raised an eyebrow. "You toured U.A. yesterday."
"I got distracted."
"By what?"
"There was a robot."
"There are approximately four hundred robots here."
"Exactly!"
Uraraka covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Aizawa sighed. "Chloe Cerise. U.A.'s early-admission student."
Now everyone stared. Chloe awkwardly waved. "Hi."
Mitchell couldn't help smiling. Chloe caught him doing it. She smiled back.
Mina's eyes immediately narrowed. She looked at Chloe. Then Mitchell. Then Chloe again. "Oh."
Mitchell's smile disappeared. Mina's grin became enormous. "Ohhhhh."
"Mina," Mitchell warned.
"You two know each other!"
"Yes."
"Really well!"
Chloe turned bright red. Mitchell suddenly discovered that facing villains was significantly easier than facing twenty curious teenagers.
Aizawa rescued him. "They have a pre-existing relationship."
Silence. Uraraka blinked. Kaminari's mouth fell open. Iida's glasses practically flashed.
"THAT PRESENTS AN EXTREMELY COMPLICATED SCHOOL ETHICS SITUATION!"
"Which," Aizawa said, "is why Mitchell does not control Chloe's grades, disciplinary decisions, or hero evaluations. Those responsibilities belong to other staff members."
Mitchell nodded. "At school, Chloe is another U.A. student. She gets exactly the same treatment as everyone else."
Chloe raised her hand. "Does that mean I still have to do your History homework?"
"Especially the History homework."
"Traitor."
The class erupted into laughter. Even Aizawa almost smiled. Almost.
Lunch arrived several hours later. Chloe carried her tray through the cafeteria, searching for somewhere to sit.
"Chloe!" Uraraka waved enthusiastically. Chloe smiled and joined her.
"You survived your first morning!" Uraraka said.
"Barely."
"I thought Mitchell's lesson was interesting."
Chloe poked at her food. "Don't tell him that."
"Why?"
"He'll become unbearable."
Uraraka giggled. There was something immediately comfortable about talking to her. Chloe had worried that being younger would make everyone treat her differently. Uraraka didn't seem to care.
There someone dropped into the chair beside Chloe. "Hello!"
Chloe nearly jumped out of her seat. A blonde girl with messy buns grinned at her. Uraraka stared.
"Toga?!"
"Hi, Ochaco!"
"What are you doing here?"
"Eating lunch."
"You're supposed to be in General Studies!"
"I escaped."
"You can't escape your class!"
"Apparently I can."
Chloe stared between them. "You two know each other?"
Uraraka groaned. "It's complicated."
Toga leaned across the table. "I'm Himiko Toga."
"Chloe."
"I know."
Chloe paused. "Should I be concerned?"
"Probably!"
"Toga!"
"I'm joking!"
Chloe wasn't entirely convinced. Yet something about Toga's chaotic enthusiasm was strangely charming. Uraraka was warm, earnest and reassuring. Toga was unpredictable, energetic and mischievous. And Chloe found herself enjoying the company of both of them. Very much.
After lunch came rescue training. Mitchell watched from the observation platform while Aizawa supervised. Chloe stood beside Uraraka and Toga.
Their exercise was simple: navigate a simulated collapsed building, locate a training dummy and evacuate it without causing additional structural damage.
"Ready?" Uraraka asked. Chloe nodded. Toga bounced excitedly. "Ready!"
The buzzer sounded. They ran.
Uraraka immediately used Zero Gravity on fallen debris. Chloe moved underneath it. "Clear!"
Toga doted through the opening and found their simulated casualty. "Found them!"
The ceiling creaked. Chloe looked upward. That wasn't part of the simulation.
"Move!"
She grabbed both girls and pulled them backward as debris crashed down. Mitchell immediately stepped toward the railing. Aizawa lifted one hand. "Wait."
Mitchell stopped. Every instinct he had screamed at him to jump down there. But Chloe wasn't helpless. She was training to become a hero. He had to trust her.
Chloe looked around. The obvious route was blocked. Uraraka pointed upward. "I have an idea."
Seconds later, Chloe felt herself becoming weightless. "Whoa!"
"Sorry!" Uraraka floated Chloe toward an opening above them. Toga climbed after her.
Together, the three emerged from the damaged structure with the training dummy. The buzzer sounded. MISSION COMPLETE.
Toga threw both arms into the air. "We lived!"
"That wasn't the objective!" Uraraka protested.
"It's an important bonus!"
Chloe burst out laughing. Uraraka tried maintaining her serious expression. She lasted approximately three seconds. Soon all three were laughing.
From above, Mitchell smiled. Aizawa glanced at him. "She's good."
"Yeah."
"Don't look so surprised."
"I'm not."
Mitchell watched Chloe talking excitedly with Uraraka and Toga. For the first time since her unusual admission to U.A. had been approved, one of his biggest worries disappeared. Chloe wasn't alone here. She was already finding people she trusted.
That evening, Chloe found Uraraka and Toga sitting outside the dormitory.
"Hey."
Uraraka smiled. "Hey!"
Toga immediately patted the space between them. "Sit."
Chloe did. For several moments, nobody spoke.
Then Chloe quietly said, "I was terrified today."
Uraraka looked surprised. "You didn't seem terrified."
"I've spent weeks hearing that I'm too young for U.A."
Toga frowned. "That's stupid."
Chloe laughed softly. "Thanks."
"You passed the entrance requirements," Uraraka said. "You're here because you earned it."
Chloe looked at her. Then at Toga. Something warm fluttered inside her. She didn't entirely understand it yet. She knew she liked Uraraka. She knew she liked Toga. And judging from the way Uraraka suddenly became fascinated by the ground whenever Chloe smiled at her—and the way Toga seemed determined to remain approximately two centimeters away from Chloe at all times—perhaps those feelings weren't entirely one-sided.
Toga suddenly put her hand between them. "Team promise."
Uraraka blinked. "What's a team promise?"
"I don't know. I invented it."
Chloe put her hand over Toga's. Uraraka smiled and added hers. "Fine."
Toga grinned. "No matter how weird U.A. gets?"
"We stick together," Chloe said.
Uraraka nodded. "We stick together."
Three hands remained stacked beneath the evening sky. Chloe had entered U.A. thinking being younger would define her. Instead, on her very first day, she'd found something considerably more important. Two people who might eventually become much more than friends.
And somewhere inside U.A., Mitchell was about to discover that teaching Hero History was easy compared with surviving Class 1-A. Especially when Chloe Cerise was part of it.