Chapter 1
Shouts and screams came from behind the door.
A little boy sat against the wooden barrier, crying to himself.
'Why do I feel all this… anger?' he thought to himself, confused and scared by a feeling that wasn't his.
Fury. Spite. Wrath.
All words that could perfectly describe the emotion he was feeling at that moment. Emotion that didn't really come from inside him but from outside. Seemingly seeping through the door, from the kitchen where his parents continued their argument, as usual.
The adults would never know that they had utterly ruined the day their son used his Quirk for the first time.
And the son, himself, wouldn't even know what was happening until much later.
[}-o-{]
Kazuki Endo sat at a metallic table in a silent room.
He hummed to himself as he felt the seconds and minutes pass him by. His head nodded along with the tune, his eyes half-closed. He was the picture of boredom, or at least so he supposed, but that was to be expected. One couldn't help but be like that when they had to wait with nothing to do, right?
Leaning forward, he ran the fingers of his right hand through his white hair. It was unnecessary, really, more of a habit than an actual effort to keep it out of his eyes. After all, it was so short that there was no way it would block his view anyway. Moreover, he could care less about how he looked, if he was honest.
'Are they getting here anytime soon?' he couldn't help but ask himself. Really, they were the ones that called for him and now they were making him wait for… How long had it even been? 'They could at least have placed a clock in this shitty room, right? Or is that a tactic of some sort? Sounds like it could be…'
Finally, he almost cheered when the door opened and in came the strange chimera that was Nezu. Kazuki was almost tempted to try and decipher what the hell he was, but, honestly, he couldn't be bothered to do so. The guy/thing gave him a headache just looking at him.
Blinking, he tried to get a feel of Nezu with his Quirk but found nothing. 'That's encouraging, at least,' Kazuki mused as he watched the Principal of UA walk up to the table and sit opposite from him.
"Kazuki Endo," he started, with a tilt of his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine, Nezu," he replied, lying through his teeth. He didn't feel too bad though. Kazuki was sure the other party had lied too. After all, he was-
"You know why I'm here, right?" the strange creature asked and it was the boy's turn to tilt his head.
"To get me in your school, it's my guess. God knows why though," he added quickly after answering. A smirk formed on his face. "It's been a while since the last time I was out, but I'm pretty sure they don't take criminals in hero schools."
"But you aren't a criminal, are you?" Nezu shot back with a smile of his own. "You are a victim."
[}-o-{]
"Can't you stop being so antagonistic! You are affecting Kazuki!" his mother screamed hypocritically.
Kazuki himself, now older by a few years, sat trembling at the table between both his parents as they shouted at one another. Again. It had been a few minutes since he had given up actually eating his dinner. His stomach seemed to rebel against the idea with so much negativity around him, so he'd just simply pushed it away a bit.
"Like you are one to talk!" his father shot back, too angry to really think of his child. "I come here from working the whole day and all I get is you nagging at me for the smallest of things! Leave me alone, woman!"
Kazuki flinched at those last words. Not because he particularly understood what they could mean, how they could be taken as. He didn't know that it planted the idea inside his mother's head. He didn't know that his father realized a second too late what he had said.
What he did know was that there was a feeling of absolute regret coming from his father and a feeling of unbridled fury coming from his mother.
[}-o-{]
"Don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Principal," Kazuki replied with an amused grin. "I'm a criminal. After all, why else would I have been placed into this pri- Excuse me, this Secure Confinement? That's how you call it, right?" he asked, almost mockingly. As if anyone that actually knew the places would call them anything other than prisons.
"A misunderstanding. A tragic one, but a misunderstanding in the end," Nezu replied solemnly and Kazuki could only raise an eyebrow at him. "I can only apologize, even if I had nothing to do with what happened. If I had found your file sooner-"
"No, you just so happened to find my file when I reached the age to enter your school. I'm sure many will believe that," Kazuki interrupted with a condescending smile. He was young, not stupid.
Nezu sighed.
"I know you don't believe me, but-"
"Not a single word, no," Kazuki confirmed, having some fun cutting the man/creature's sentences short. He had to give it to him though, Nezu didn't get riled up easily. He'd seen guards that got angry for much less. He didn't even feel any repressed anger with his Quirk, which was even more impressive. Respectable as that was though, the teen still wanted nothing to do with the man, or whatever Nezu was. "What makes you think that I want to be a hero, Mr. Rat?"
"A chance to get out of here, for start-"
"I've been left to rot here for 5 years, sir," Kazuki shot back, lazy smile still in place. The last word said as if it were a bad joke. "And don't say this is my chance to get freedom again. I'll just be trading a prison for another, and that's all you are offering," he added, not really feeling up to playing the principal's game on that front. He knew how that would work out.
"You would be able to go out, study with people that aren't criminals, go into the city,-"
"With babysitters, I'm sure," Kazuki pointed out.
"-eventually, you'd be able to live a normal life once you graduate," Nezu finished, as if he hadn't spoken at all.
"Yes, as a "hero", right?" he replied, pantomiming the quotation marks with his fingers. "Which in this case is another word for slave or something. In this normal life you are talking about, I won't be able to get a normal job, will I? Hero is the only thing I'll be allowed to be, isn't that right? And if I refuse, then back to hole we go. Tell me I'm wrong, Mr. Rat."
The silence that followed was very telling, but the creature seemed unperturbed. It was galling, really, that Kazuki couldn't even pick up any anger, any frustration, any disappointment. There was nothing there, and that just made him grow more annoyed as time passed. What was up with this… thing?
[}-o-{]
"I can't believe it!" his father continued ranting as the boy closed his eyes, fighting back a grimace and tears. Anger was, once more and as usual, the emotion projected from his only remaining parent. It had been a whole year since he had last seen his mother. "You are truly that woman's child. Why can't you do better than this?"
The paper was slammed on the table and Kazuki made an herculean effort not to jump at the loud sound.
It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault that everyone else was so nervous he couldn't concentrate on the exam. Maybe if he had had a good night's sleep instead of having to hear his father drone on about how awful the boy's mother was. Or maybe if he didn't have to take care of himself since his father was always working.
But his father didn't care about that.
The man only saw his mother in him. Kazuki knew that, since he felt the same anger he had felt during their arguments back then, this time directed at himself. And sadly, the boy also knew that his mother wouldn't have been better than his father.
Maybe he shouldn't have gotten distracted by the foreign feelings.
Maybe that would have stopped his father from striking him. But the fact was that he did. And the next second the boy laid on the floor, a hand over his cheek where his father's palm had hit him, feeling the stinging hot pain on his skin.
[}-o-{]
"Did you get that out of your system?" Nezu asked, and Kazuki almost gaped at him. Did it sound… amused? "You are angry because of what happened, because of your Quirk, because of your childhood."
Kazuki wished he could use his Quirk on this bastard, talking like he knew anything about him. Like whatever he'd read about his life could even measure up to reality. Alas, he couldn't, because he was sure there was at least onetop tier hero behind the door. He could feel it, after all, their wariness.
He felt his grip on his emotions slipping. The lazy smile he'd kept on his face slowly turned into a flat line. His hands clenched into fists as he pushed down the wish to use his Quirk. The guards wouldn't appreciate that.
"And you are angry because you are right," Nezu added, which managed to shock Kazuki out of his anger. "That's exactly the deal you are being offered."
Almost ready to throw caution to the wind, he felt his Quirk start triggering. The shadow beneath his chair darkened, becoming a pitch black stain on the floor and growing larger. Was Nezu mocking him? Was that why he didn't feel anything? Was the guy having fun?
"It's still your only chance, Mr. Endo," the thing continued speaking, unaware of what was going on beneath the teenager. Although, a part of the boy's mind wondered why the guards hadn't intervened already. Surely they were seeing it, through the cameras. "If you don't take it, you'll be here for a few years more, as I'm sure you know. I doubt you'll have plenty of options even after getting out, however."
"So, that's your game? Threaten me into becoming a puppet? A life with no freedom or no life at all? Wonderful options, I gotta say," Kazuki said, anger and bitterness slowly bleeding out of his voice. In the end, he deflated, and the only thing that remained was a mockery of a smile and resignation.
He'd held on strong, hoping against hope that he'd be free someday. That someone would see what had really happened and let him out early, maybe. That the system would see reason and give him a chance. He knew by then though, that'd never happen.
Even when his sentence was finished, who would ever look at him and not see his past? What he'd done? What he'd caused?
"I'm sorry," Nezu said, the thing's expression shifting the smallest bit. Although, if not for his Quirk's sense, Kazuki would have never guessed that he really felt bad. That he really was ashamed and guilty. "But that's the best offer I've been authorized to give you. For anything else, my hands are tied."
Kazuki's hands clenched into fists again.
The darkness grew, from just underneath his chair to the point where it covered the ground and the wall behind him. Wispy shapes moved inside the shadows, as if reaching out. Growls and snarls echoed in the room as Kazuki and Nezu remained in silence. The small creature felt no fear for the abominations that threatened him, however.
Then, the boy's shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the chair. The darkness vanished, like dust in the wind, and the room returned to normal. 'What's even the point anymore?' he asked himself.
"Sure," he said then, giving Nezu the most hollow smile he'd ever wore on his face. "What do I have to lose anyway, right?"
"I'm glad you accepted." The Principal smiled, but Kazuki could feel the underlying impotency he felt. Then, to the boy's shock, Nezu was filled with pain and, more importantly, absolute, uncontrolled rage. He was even more surprised to see that nothing had changed outwardly with the creature. "And also, believe me when I say that I know exactly what it is to be in a completely unfair situation such as yours."
Kazuki stared at him for a moment before chuckling weakly.
"I believe you," he said, because what else could he do? He'd felt those exact emotions more than once himself.
[}-o-{]
"Are you even listening to me, you stupid-!"
"Shut up!" Kazuki shouted, for the first time in his life raising his voice against one of his parents. But he was tired of feeling anger and sadness and nervousness and fear and many other emotions that weren't even his. He was tired of having to deal with that when nobody cared for his own feelings. He was tired of shouts and arguments.
He was just... tired.
And at that moment, he felt something in him. Something that had always been there but he had never noticed. When the emotions came his way, the negativity would enter his body. He knew that. What he hadn't realized was that those went somewhere inside him.
A pool of negativity that he had gathered inside him. A well of dark energy that he could, maybe since the first day, access with his Quirk. And so he did. He reached a metaphorical hand inside that pool and pushed it outside.
With a scream that was midway between a roar and a wail, a shadow spread from beneath Kazuki.
[}-o-{]
"Thanks for the clothes," Kazuki said as he walked beside Nezu, his hands in the black cargo pant's pockets. He had black boots and a plain white t-shirt to go with everything. It was a plain outfit, but he didn't have preferences in clothes anyway. He was fine with that.
"Don't mention it," the strange chimera thing replied with a wave of his hand/paw. Kazuki really wanted to ask what the hell he was, but at the same time he got the feeling that wouldn't get a straight answer to that, if he got an answer at all. "This," Nezu said as he stopped in front of a door. "Will be your home while you study at U.A."
"Nice," the teen said as he walked through the door and looked around the place. "I love the decoration here, can I get the number of the guy that did this? I want to give them my compliments," he commented, spreading his arms to signal the walls bare of anything that would make the place remotely welcoming. There was nothing but the absolute necessities, really. He might be fine with simple clothes, but the apartment was just sad. "Wonder if the neighbors will be as nice as this, honestly."
That last part wasn't just a joke either. He knew very well that at least one hero must live in the building. There needed to be someone to keep an eye on him, after all. 'Then again,' Kazuki thought as he looked at what seemed to be a sensor on the window. 'Guess they don't need someone in the room with me at all times,' he added, deciding not to look for or even wonder if there were cameras in the apartment.
"I suggest that you prepare for the Entrance Exams," Nezu said as he walked in too, not really looking around. The teenager doubted the guy needed to. From what he'd gathered, the principal's brain was a scary thing, no doubt Nezu had already memorized everything about the place or something equally as absurd and over the top. 'Guess Plus Ultra is applied everywhere.' "You need to pass the practical and the written test, might I remind you."
"I know. I'll study," Kazuki said, waving the thing off. It wasn't even that he was a bad student at all. He was pretty confident on the written part. As for the practical… Well, he was as good with his Quirk as he could be considering that he'd spent years in a place that didn't allow its use. Fortunately, at least he was in good shape. Not amazing, but he was confident in his physique too.
"I know it's not ideal, but don't throw away this chance, Mr. Endo," Nezu said and Kazuki took a deep breath in before sighing.
"I won't," he said, although he himself didn't know if that was the truth or not. He still wasn't sure what was worse, being in a cage or having a leash around his neck. Having a peek at freedom might just be worse than not seeing it at all.
"Well, I think I'll leave you to get acclimated with the place," the creature told him, preparing to leave.
A minute later, Kazuki, now by himself, simply looked around the apartment. There were clothes in the bedroom, the fridge was stocked. He had everything he could possibly need, even if the place looked bare of anything personal or decorative. He could even watch TV!
And yet, he felt just as trapped as he had back in juvie.
When he went to sit at the table, he noticed that there was a small pile of books on top of it. Absently checking them, he noticed that they were the kind of thing an aspiring hero would read. From physical training to general Quirk training, passing through all the subjects they'd probably test during the written exam.
Kazuki wondered, as he read through one that explained how being a hero worked, how it would be to be one of them. He chuckled when the idea of having fans crossed his mind. There was no way that would happen, not once everyone realized who he was. It was a nice thought though, imagining how it would be to have a kid approach him for an autograph.
He smiled bitterly.
Still, he looked at the picture of the book. The current chapter seemed to explain how to act during a rescue situation. As he saw the generic hero model - who looked suspiciously like All Might - carrying someone with arrows pointing what to do and what not to do, he couldn't help but imagine himself there. Not as the hero, but a much younger Kazuki being the one that was rescued.
'Nobody came for me though,' he thought despondently. 'And now they want me to be a hero?' he thought, chuckling hollowly as he closed the book. As he stood, intent on seeing if there was anything he could drink, he hesitated and looked back at the now closed book. 'Nobody came for me but… Maybe I can be that hero… for someone else.'
Maybe it was late for him, but if he could make that difference for someone else… If he could do that, what? His parents would be proud of him? His father was dead and his mother didn't even want to acknowledge his existence. It was stupid.
And still, now that the idea was in his mind, he couldn't help but continue thinking it over.
Kazuki imagined how his younger self would have felt if a hero would have come to save him. He imagined little kids out there, in houses that held people worse than most villains, away from the spotlight heroes lived in. 'I could see them though,' he thought, even then still sensing the negative emotions of people around him. Like the person that was feeling very jealous on the floor beneath his or the annoyed person two doors to the left of his apartment.
He took those, those and many more from around and drew from them. He felt the power in him gather, filling him with energy. He felt it pool in him and swirl, eager to come out and do something. The shadow of his hand on the table darkened and grew wider. Wispy figures came out of it then, as if some monster was coming out of the piece of furniture.
Then, from it rose a beak, and then a head, all of if black as the starless night. A body soon followed and wings extended. The creature of darkness cawed, turning its bone white, masked face towards him. His red eyes surrounded by black sclera found the same color in the creation's sockets.
"A hero, huh?"
That night, Kazuki went to sleep pretty late.
There were books to study, after all.
[}-o-{]
"Do you think you are ready for the exam?" his new guard/minder asked and Kazuki looked up from his meal towards Aizawa Shota. The man was apparently a teacher at UA and had been assigned to watch him for the day. He was only one of the people with that duty, at least. The pale man with black, messy long hair was the only one he saw though, which made sense considering that he was the one that apparently lived in an apartment in the same building.
Kazuki had also found that the man was perpetually annoyed and tired.
"Not really, but does anyone?" he replied with a shrug after a moment of silence. He'd had most meals alone, so far, but he wasn't sure if that was better than having Aizawa with him. As it turned out, he wasn't gonna have his minders hovering over his shoulder, but it was expected of him to inform them of where he went and such things.
Kazuki refrained from complaining. He still could do pretty much whatever he wanted anyway, that was the important part. He was used to having people watching his every move, so he could put up with those terms, no problem.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do nearly as much as he would have liked. He could practice with his Quirk. The problem was that there was only so much that he could do inside the apartment and doing so outside… Implied a whole lot of problems that he didn't want to deal with.
At least his minders seemed to be completely fine with him going to a nearby gym so that he could train physically. He'd even gotten some classes on how to fight, but with the time he had, there wasn't much he could do on that front. Still, something was better than nothing.
So, Kazuki spent most of his time just studying, which was something he never thought he would do. At least not nearly as much as he was, that was for sure. It had the added benefit that he'd gotten to know that all his guards were teachers at UA, something that he'd learned when they offered to help him out while they were on guard duty and he informed them of his plans. He hadn't taken them up on their offers, but it was still appreciated, he supposed.
"You know, if children annoy you so much, maybe teaching isn't for you," Kazuki commented, pointing at the man with his chopstick. "Honestly, that's all I ever pick up from you, annoyance and weariness."
"I like teaching," the man refuted, to which Kazuki raised an eyebrow. The annoyance had only grown with that. 'Yeah, really enjoy your job, man. I believe you now,' he thought sarcastically. "What's your excuse?" Aizawa shot back then, taking Kazuki off guard. "You don't want to be a hero, and yet here you are."
"Well, there's just something about not being in prison, you know?" the teenager replied with a bright smile. "It's nice, especially when, you know, you shouldn't even be there."
"So, that's the whole reason? To get out?"
"Of course," Kazuki lied through his teeth. He was going to be a hero, but not for this teacher, not for Nezu, certainly not for the Hero Public Safety Commission. He wouldn't even be a hero for himself. He just wanted to save people. If he could stop even one child from ending up like himself, if he could stop even one tragedy from striking… then…
That was enough for him.
"I don't believe you," Aizawa told him, eyes narrowed.
At that, Kazuki could only chuckle.
"Then maybe you won't be as bad of a teacher as I thought you would be," the younger man admitted.
"I can already tell you are going to be a problem child," the pro hero grumbled. "I really hope you won't be in my class," The man added and Kazuki laughed even harder.
"How much do you wanna bet I do?" the teenager asked.
"As a personal rule, I avoid taking sucker bets."
Chapter 2
Kazuki thought the written part of the test had gone well enough. It hadn't been nearly as difficult as he expected it to be, but then again, Aizawa had told him he should be fine. Which, considering the personality of the guy, meant he was probably going to do more than fine, at the least. The guy's efforts to reassure might have been slightly undermined by the fact that Kazuki wasn't sure he trusted him, or any of the UA staff all that much. He was half sure there had to be some people there that wanted him far away from their precious school. He liked to think Aizawa thought differently but…
Well, he was a criminal being sent to a hero school.
Yeah, he didn't like the chances of people not actually hating his guts.
'Maybe I can trust them, I guess,' Kazuki considered then, since it seemed Aizawa had actually told him the truth regarding the written exam. At the very least, he could keep that in mind, he supposed. Sadly, the one teacher/guard/minder that he talked with had remained awfully silent regarding the practical part of the exam.
Now, after Present Mic's explanation of the rather simple process of the test, he had to wonder why though. 'Defeat the fake villains, earn points. Easy enough,' he thought, considering how to best use his Quirk in such a situation as they moved towards the area for the exam. 'Why'd he be so secretive about that before I came here though?' he asked himself with a frown.
Taking a deep breath in once they reached the door, he concentrated on his Quirk. At least he would have no problem gathering energy, that was for sure. Every single one of the examinees was nervous, some more, some less, but they were. He could use that.
Kazuki grasped the negativity with his metaphorical hands and gathered it inside him. As he concentrated, the shadow under him twitched and twisted, as if eager to be let out. Just as soon as they gave the order, he'd unleash his creatures on those robots. He'd gotten a taste of the outside world, and even if he still had a leash, he'd rather have that than be inside a cell. He'd hate it, but he'd hate it less, that was for sure.
He hated that his thought process was like that. He didn't want to be a prisoner his whole life… Sadly, he didn't have many options however, so he'd have to make do with what he had. Take the lemons and see if he could stumble his way into making lemonade.
"Begin," came Aizawa's bored/annoyed voice from the speakers at the same time the gate opened. Most of the examinees stood there for a moment, probably expecting a countdown or something. Two people reacted instantly though.
From Kazuki's shadow rose a werewolf-like creature. Pitch black fur covered most of it, like most of his creatures, while the monster wore a bone white mask with red markings on it. Equally colored spikes protruded from the thing's joints and back. His creation, his Grimm as he liked calling them, charged forward instantly, growling all the while.
A One-Pointer appeared then, moving on top of a single wheel under it and having miniguns for arms that were covered by a piece of armor not unlike a shield. The thing had barely gotten to raise its arm and aim before the Grimm, Beowolf he called that particular "design", crashed against it. In an instant, the monster was already tearing through the metal with its claws and teeth.
'First point,' Kazuki thought with a smirk.
The second person wasn't too far behind though. A two pointer, a strange four-legged scorpion-like robot, appeared and pointed at the Beowolf with what seemed to be a gun on its 'tail'. Before it could do anything else though, a student came flying and destroyed it instantly with a loud bang. 'Explosions, huh? Neat Quirk, that one,' Kazuki mused curiously as he leisurely walked inside the exam area. His shadow was already extending and shaping into a second Beowolf.
'Maybe it is that simple, I guess,' Kazuki thought a minute later as he looked around after letting out his third Grimm. The trio of werewolves destroyed anything that came even close to the teenager. The only concern he had was to keep moving, and trying to avoid the other examinees, since they would get in the way of each other trying to destroy as many robots as possible.
The sandbox was much smaller than it appeared to be though, which made sense. With the test taking only ten minutes, there wasn't much time to explore a big place unless students had a mobility Quirk of some kind. Even then, why would it make the thing bigger only for a handful of potential students at best? Thus, it was more of a small city setting of a few blocks in every direction being flooded with robots than a big one with them everywhere.
'What's that make? Around 40 points?' Kazuki mused as he watched one of his Beowolves tear through a Three Pointer. With the rate at which his Grimm were destroying the things, he'd be very surprised if he didn't get in. After all, he'd gotten a good look at some of the other examinees and they weren't fairing all that well. That wasn't to say that he thought he was the best, but he should be good enough to get in, that was for sure.
His thoughts were interrupted though, when he felt a spike of fear in his Sense.
Instantly, he turned to the side, one of his Beowolf snapping into motion. Kazuki frowned, there was a Two Pointer there… but there was nobody else. Not only was the machine standing in a strange way compared to all the others he'd seen, but it also made no sense for him to sense fear from there. The robots didn't feel anything, after all. 'What in the….?' He scowled, trying his best to get a feeling of what was up there even as his Grimm continued its charge.
Sadly, he wasn't nearly as good with his Sense to tell what was up there. He only knew that there was someone feeling fear in that direction, roughly at that distance. Kazuki didn't need more than that though. It could be someone with a quirk that made them small, or someone that had gotten inside the bot somewhat? He didn't know how that last one would connect with fear but the first one could be.
'That means I can't destroy the thing though. What if I hurt whoever's there?' Kazuki realized, clicking his tongue. 'Incapacitating it is,' He decided with a nod.
"Whoever's here, it'd be nice to know what's going on!" he called as one of his Beowolves stalked the robot from beside him. Meanwhile, one of the others continued hunting while the third did the same but keeping close just in case. When the scorpion-like villain bot started turning its tail-gun towards him, Kazuki had his Grimm dash forward and slash it off.
"Under… leg…" he heard someone say. A girl, he was pretty sure. Frowning, he looked at the robot's legs. Indeed, one of them looked to be strangely placed, almost like… 'Like it's floating. An invisibility Quirk?' he thought, mentally commanding his Beowolf to attack more. He'd been hesitant before, not knowing if he'd unknowingly hit whoever had been in trouble. With a better idea, there was no need to hold back.
"Everything alright?" Kazuki asked as his creature took the bot away and made quick work of it. The fear from whoever it had been diminished quickly then, replaced by exhaustion, some pain and a sense of defeat. "Do you need any more help?" he offered, his eyes trying to focus on something but finding nothing. 'I'll need to work on my sensing. Maybe I can use it better than I already do?' he mused, a little frustrated.
"I'm fine now, thank you for the help," the girl told him, even though her voice gave away how tired and dejected she felt. Which he didn't need but she also didn't know that. "I don't want to hold you back."
"Eh, I'm probably passing anyway," Kazuki said with a shrug. "Besides, I can help without it really changing much," he added, turning to look at one of his Beowolves tearing into a One Pointer. "Besides, it wouldn't be very heroic of me to leave you here to fend for yourself, right?" he asked with a grin.
"Well, if you insist," the girl replied before trying to stand up. Kazuki only noticed because he sensed the flaring pain before she groaned. "I guess I really do need a hand here."
"No problem, although… I might need directions, I can't see you," he commented before he felt a hand touching his arm. Moving quickly, he got a hold of the arm and helped the girl steady herself.
"Thanks," she said, and he heard her taking a deep breath in. "Toru Hagakure, nice to meet you."
"Kazuki Endo, same," he replied simply. "Did you hear anything about a place to take wounded or something?" he asked then, his eyes scanning their surroundings to search for both, possibly threats and an exit or medic place.
"I don't remember them saying anything about that," She mumbled and she sounded and felt absolutely exhausted, which he guessed made sense.
"Ok, we'll just have to look for a place like that," Kazuki commented, before turning to "look" at the girl, Hagakure. "Can you walk?"
"I think so," she said, letting go of his arm. A second later, her hands grabbed him again. "Or not, my chest hurts," she told him then before he threw one of her arms over his shoulder. "Sorry."
"Don't mention it," he waved off easily as he started moving back towards where they'd entered the battlefield. "Let's just go back, yeah? How many points did you get?"
"Thirty, I think," she replied and he could feel the fear gripping at her. "And you?"
"Forty… Seven, pretty sure," he answered, looking at one of his Beowolves tearing through a One Pointer as they escorted the pair on their way. "If it makes you feel better, I think you did quite well, actually. Which makes me wonder how that one got a hold of you if you could take all those out."
"I might… have been talking more… than I should have," she admitted, each pause accompanied by a spike of pain. She clearly had trouble speaking. At least he'd been right and what he said had helped her feel better. Small victories.
"I'll do the talking, yeah? I know you are in pain," he told her. "Shouldn't take us long to get to the gates-" he started before pausing. Something felt wrong, but he couldn't quite tell what. It was like… "You are wearing clothes, right?" he asked, some dread in his voice.
"Just noticed, huh?" she replied with, and he could hear the grin in her voice. Despite that, he felt embarrassment join her other emotions. "Wouldn't be very heroic… to drop me," she added before groaning.
"Right, right," he agreed with a nod, internally wondering if he'd get scolded for this or something. It wouldn't look very good if it came out that the criminal that had gotten out early was walking around holding a naked girl during the Entrance Exam. "Here's hoping I'm not expelled or anything," he mumbled to himself.
"Don't worry," Hagakured reassured him. The fact that Kazuki didn't sense any anger or anything on that line helped more than her words, really, but he didn't tell her that. "I'll… tell them."
"Yeah, thanks," he told her absently, even as his worry continued spiking. Then he heard something big moving somewhere behind him. looking over his shoulder, he saw a robot the size of a building appear on the other side of the area. "God, I'm grateful we are moving the other way," he commented as he adjusted his hold on Hagakure and continued moving.
"Someone… in the rubble," Hagakure said, making him pause. Sure enough, someone was feeling pretty terrible in the rubble of a nearby building. Stopping for a moment to consider that, he narrowed his eyes.
Two of his Beowolf trio dissolved into a dark mist before simply vanishing entirely. The remaining one patrolled as Kazuki's shadow extended once more. Out of it came a more humanoid creature wearing a bone mask that had two goat-like horns. Its black body, contrary to the Beowolves' muscular shape, was more stringy, almost weak looking. They were much better for delicate work though.
"What… are those?"
"My Quirk, I can make creatures. I call those Imps, and the other's Beowolves," he explained as he started walking once more. The gate appeared on sight once they rounded the corner. Meanwhile, the Imp he'd made was making its way to the rubble to dig the guy that was trapped there out. "You can thank me later, man! Just don't freak out!" he called over his shoulder.
He didn't hear a response, but then again, Kazuki hadn't expected one. Instead, he focused on moving and making another Imp. He'd sent it out to do some rescuing. It wasn't part of the Exam, he knew, but he wanted to make a good impression on the school staff. Most bots had already been dealt with, really, so he was unlikely to raise his score too much. If he passed, he'd need to be on the school's good side. Kazuki didn't like his chances if he always had a teacher breathing down his neck and waiting for him to mess up.
Or worse, wanting to make up a mistake to screw him over.
'Stop it,' he told himself. This was his chance. He had to focus on what he could do and stop worrying about others. With any luck, he was just being a pessimist. Besides, Nezu wouldn't just leave him to his fate, he knew. If he could trust in anyone, he could trust in the principal, Kazuki supposed. 'Or as much as I can trust someone right now, I guess,' he mused as he watched his second Imp help someone that had gotten their leg stuck under robot remains.
'I'll be a hero,' he thought to himself, frowning as he continued moving.
[}-o-{]
[Toru Hagakure]
"Thanks, again," she said, smiling widely even if no one could see it. In front of her sat a very pale teenager. The skin color was important at that moment, she felt, because it certainly made his blushed cheeks stand out all the more.
"Don't mention it," he waved off as he'd done several times already, this time with much more vehemence though. "Seriously, don't," he reiterated, resolutely not looking at the pile of clothes his creation – 'Imp, was it?' – had brought back for her. The pile of clothes she'd been quick to dismiss once the exercise started.
She giggled at his reaction. Then again, she supposed it must be pretty embarrassing for him all things considered. She certainly was after realizing that he had basically carried her while naked. Still, she was also curious about the worried or downright frightened look he'd get sometimes.
"Anyway," the white-haired boy started after coughing behind his fist to clear some of his embarrassment. "I'm guessing… Actually, I should leave you so you can get changed, sorry," he said, changing his sentence in the middle as he muttered to himself.
"That'd be appreciated," Toru told him with a pout that he couldn't see. "I know I'm invisible but I'd like some privacy while I change, you know?"
Some people thought it was weird, that she felt embarrassed changing but wasn't when just walking around naked. The thing was, nobody could see anything if she wasn't wearing clothes. However, while changing, they could see her clothes and when she was taking things off and that certainly made her feel exposed.
"Right, sorry," he mumbled as he stood up and walked towards the door. "I hope you pass. It'd be nice to know someone in here."
"Same," she replied with a soft smile. With his head turned slightly to look over his shoulder, she saw his eyes, with black scleras and red irises, move. It was as if he were looking for her, and a moment later his lips pulled into a bit of a smirk.
"I'll see you around, then," he said before walking out and closing the door.
"Did he really just say that?" Toru muttered to herself as she started changing before breaking into giggles once more. To the side, behind a curtain in the infirmary she'd been taken to, she heard the nurse, Recovery Girl, grumble to herself.
Still, it seemed she'd made a friend and Toru was perfectly fine with that. Not knowing anyone would have made her a little nervous before, she'd admit. It seemed she had nothing to worry about though and that was a weight off her chest.
Now she just needed to pray that she'd actually get in to begin with.
[}-o-{]
[Kazuki Endo]
Well, that had certainly been an… encounter, he supposed.
'How long has it been since I just talked to someone normally?' Kazuki wondered as he walked through the halls of the building on his way out. It was a very valid question he supposed. Actually… 'Did I ever hold a normal conversation with someone?' he added then, with a sad smile on his face.
Before being thrown into prison, he'd been young. Young enough that anyone his age was creeped out by his looks. His family had been an absolute mess. And everyone else cared very little.
What did it say about him that his most normal experiences had come from being thrown into prison? Some of the people he'd met there had been surprisingly friendly all things considered. However, it was still a prison in all but name. He could never quite lower his guard enough for it to be counted as normal he was sure.
And now… now he could be normal, for once, he supposed. Surely the students at UA wouldn't be as judgemental as kids had been. He could only hope that would be the case and his looks wouldn't ruin things for him once more. If his Quirk didn't, at least. That was another thing, he supposed.
All things considered though, he felt relatively optimistic.
'If only because it's the only thing I can do,' he mused as he stepped out through the entrance door and made his way to the street. There were other hopeful teenagers around, either because they were leaving or because they'd stuck around for whatever reason. Nervousness rolled around the environment, Kazuki could feel. Some were frustrated, some were sad. Lots of bad emotions in the air, it seemed.
With a sigh, he decided to just leave.
As he walked though, he stopped when he felt a spike of dejection with a touch of anger. He grimaced though, because he also knew the reason. He'd just passed next to a boy and girl, with the first one asking the other on a date. Kazuki thought he could make an educated guess on what the result had been.
"It's not my fault I'm short, you know?" he heard the guy grumble.
"Life sucks, huh?" He asked, turning and running his fingers through his white hair. Internally, he wondered why the fuck he'd even talked. The guy was rejected, it happened. There was no need to get himself involved.
"Bet she'd have said yes if I were good looking, like that guy," the short guy grumbled in response, waving his hand towards a blonde guy with blue eyes that had just come out of the building he'd been in a few moments ago.
"Probably true," Kazuki nodded, because people were shallow like that. They took one look at him and instantly he could feel the apprehension even if many tried to hide it outwardly. He knew, however, because he could sense it. Maybe that'd been why he stopped, because he understood that much? As good a reason as any, he supposed.
"I don't need pity," the short one said then, turning towards him and Kazuki felt the spike of fear. 'Huh, usually that only happens with children and cowards,' he mused, giving a short one a look over. Yeah, he definitely looked like a coward. Prison certainly taught how to catch onto those. Still…
"You'll get no pity from me, little one," he shot back with a smirk as the guy grumbled something that he was sure were insults. "But I could use some company if you want to drown your sorrows with drink and all that," he offered after a moment of consideration. Because, really, what else could he do? Go back to the apartment and sit there alone?
"I don't have the money to pay for alcohol, man," the short one lamented, as if that were the only problem with the suggestion. 'Well, at least he's not a boring coward,' Kazuki thought to himself.
"Have enough for a normal drink though?" he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards a vending machine on the street.
"I guess," the short one shrugged, starting to make his way to it. Kazuki, for his part, took out the phone he'd been given and shot a message to his "guards" to tell them what was up. Else, he was sure the police would go looking for him if he were merely 5 minutes late.
He received a message asking for photographic evidence of what he was saying, which he guessed was fair. Kazuki was just glad he wasn't literally escorted around like a criminal. He could put up with just shooting a few pictures of what he did to prove he wasn't off somewhere being the criminal everyone thought he was.
Hell, people seemed to love doing that for fun, really.
"Kazuki Endo, by the way," he introduced himself once he caught up with the little guy, who had picked something for himself already. The teen, who had odd purple balls for hair, Kazuki noted, nodded and opened his can.
"Minoru Mineta. Nice to meet you, I guess."
"Same."
[}-o-{]
[Aizawa Shota]
Problem children were everywhere that year, it seemed.
First, there was the idiot that charged ahead without a care for everyone else.
Second, there was the idiot that didn't seem to care that his body broke apart with his Quirk.
And third… There was the one that he'd expected to be an idiot, being perfectly rational. Shota knew, however, that the boy would be trouble. Maybe not on purpose, maybe he wouldn't even actually do anything, but he'd be trouble regardless. Kazuki Endo's situation wouldn't allow for anything else, after all.
There were also a handful of other troublesome students-to-be, Shota was perfectly aware, but those three had been the ones that he'd focused on. Those three were, after all, the ones that would bring the most trouble. Knowingly or not, willingly or not, they would. He'd been a teacher long enough to know that much.
Nezu, however, looked positively giddy as they replayed the videos from the Exam, carefully examining the most prominent students to get their scores. Shota didn't know if he should be annoyed or concerned about that, honestly. That look could only spell trouble for someone and he could only hope it wouldn't be him.
"If my observations are correct," the principal started, as he always did. More than a few teachers rolled their eyes at that, because he always was and he still continued saying that. "These are the top examinees of this year."
Shota looked at the scores the principal laid before them and thought he'd actually guessed fairly well. He recognized several and he was already making plans in his head on how and what to teach some of them. That was why the teachers still checked the Exam videos even though Nezu could do the job by himself and faster. It allowed them to get a look at some of them and argue their cases in case they disagreed with a choice.
However, there was something pretty eye-catching and every teacher in the room had noticed instantly.
Kazuki Endo with 49 Villain Points and 22 Rescue Points.
Katsuki Bakugo with 71 Villain Points and 0 Rescue Points.
Both of them sitting at the top of the list, a tie. Shota didn't think he'd ever seen that happen. Hell, Nezu actively tried to avoid such scenarios, even when it wasn't for the first place. He always started picking at the character of the people involved, besides their actions during the exam. What they did during the written part, what they did before the exams, what they did in between, everything. Ties just didn't happen at UA's Entrance Exam.
"Is there a reason why you left them both first?" Kan asked, clearly having realized the same thing as Shota had. Nezu had an agenda here. What he couldn't figure out was what? If he wanted his pet project first then he could have made it so and leave Bakugo in second place. If he didn't want Endo first then he could have Bakugo there.
"I didn't want to make that decision," Nezu said, suddenly calm despite having been giddy for most of the day. "So, I'll leave the choice up to all of you."
Looks were shared and minds worked.
"Who will take first place on the Entrance Exam?" the principal asked, because he had a sense of dramatics like that, the problematic bastard.
Chapter 3
"Stupid pretty boys," Mineta grumbled, hunching over his drink and glaring all around him. "Stupid shallow girls."
Kazuki rolled his eyes, because really, he was one to talk about being shallow, honestly. At least it seemed that his short friend's anger wasn't as ridiculously large as he showed, from what he could sense. It seemed to be mostly theatrics, which was fine for him. The most he could feel was mild annoyance, actually, which was a little surprising.
It was also the only reason he put up with the guy, since it would have been very annoying if he was as he looked to be.
"Get over it, Tiny," Kazuki told him, taking a sip from his drink to hide a smirk. Mineta, expectedly, groaned loudly as he bemoaned his nickname. Which was all sorts of amusing too, since, once again, Kazuki barely felt her annoyance spike the smallest bit. "So, let's get on with it, yeah?"
"Thought you'd never say that, Creepy," Mineta said, grinning at Kazuki as his eye twitched. Well, that was fair, he supposed. Regardless, the white-haired boy looked at the letter his new –Friend? He supposed was accurate enough.– friend pulled out from his pocket. "I got in," Mineta told him then and he just grinned at the shorter boy. "But you knew that already."
"You felt remarkably not sad or dejected or anything. I guessed you had gotten in," Kazuki nodded and chuckled.
"I'm guessing you got in too," Mineta hazarded, which was fair. Kazuki didn't think he looked like someone that had failed the exam. He likely wouldn't even have shown up. Mainly because he would have been sent back to prison, of course. "So, how many points?"
"I guess I look like I did, huh?" Kazuki replied with a nod, ignoring the question. Pulling out his own letter, he looked at it for a moment. Remembering opening it in his apartment, alone and in silence. The holographic projection had been a shock, but at least it was a relief that Mineta and him hadn't wanted to wait and open their letters together. If they had done so, and in public, it'd have been… something. "I got 49 Villain Points and 23 of the hidden Rescue Points," he said.
"Man, that's a whole fucking lot," Mineta breathed out, trying to sound annoyed but mostly sounding awed. It didn't help that Kazuki felt no actual annoyance from the boy. He did get a sense of envy though. "I barely got 30 Villain Points and 10 Rescue Points."
"I mean, the important thing is getting in, right?" Kazuki pointed out, to which Mineta hummed, then he paused.
"Wait, there was supposed to be a top ten, right? There always is. Did you make it?" the shorter boy asked, to which he only grimaced. "Lucky bastard, what did you place?"
"First," Kazuki answered bluntly, and he could fully relate to the silence that followed. He still couldn't believe it, even after he got the letter and Nezu's hologram told him. He couldn't make sense of it, if he was honest. Hell, he didn't even understand how they'd allowed him to be first place, considering everything. "I still can't believe it," he added, looking at the latter.
"Some people have all the luck," Mineta grumbled, but Kazuki noticed that there wasn't nearly as much annoyance, anger or envy coming from him. "How'd you even get that much from an empathy Quirk?"
"Well… It's not actually an empathy Quirk," he pointed out weakly, his shoulders deflating. "When I sense negative emotions, I gather this… energy, or whatever. From that, I can create creatures to do what I want."
"All the fucking luck," Mineta grumbled. "Well, at least I can brag about being your friend, I guess," he muttered, gulping down what seemed to be half his drink in one go. "Man, how am I supposed to compare when all I can do is throw out sticky balls."
"First, that sounds terrible," Kazuki said, shaking his head and chuckling. "Second… I don't know. It sounds like a good Quirk to contain threats. You know, bind villains with it so they can't attack or anything."
"Yeah, I know that, but that's easier said than done," Mineta replied with an annoyed expression that was mirrored by his feelings. "I can bounce off of them too and… Well, I'm trying to work on that, but it's freaking hard."
"Sounds like it is," Kazuki agreed. Doing stuff while moving sounded hard enough on its own. Doing so while literally bouncing off spheres sounded like a nightmare. "My Quirk doesn't have anything all that bad… but it still sucks?"
"How so?"
"Do you have any idea how it is to feel it every time someone even remotely close by feels bad in any way? Even slight annoyances can be bothersome, but people feel like shit a surprising lot, you know?" Kazuki explained with a grimace before taking a sip from his drink. He could continue on and rant, but he didn't feel like doing that. He'd done a lot of complaining to himself already.
"How close do people have to be?" Mineta asked, a frown appearing on his face.
"I can feel people around a block away in all directions… So far. It used to be less when I was a kid, a lot less," Kazuki answered, doing his best to keep his calm. Didn't help that there was someone supremely bored across the street somewhere and that there was a very sad person somewhere far behind him.
"Yeah, that sounds… not good," Mineta agreed. "Still better than my shit, that's for sure."
"If you say so, Tiny."
Kazuki privately envied Mineta a great deal. He wondered how much the boy across the table would want his Quirk if he knew what the thing had done to him through his life. How badly would his new friend think of him if he knew what he'd done with his Quirk too?
He'd find out, eventually, but Kazuki could still enjoy it while it lasted, he supposed.
[}-o-{]
Kazuki's first day at UA came eventually and he found himself in uniform, tugging uncomfortably at the tie. He didn't remember the last time he'd used something like that, honestly, if he ever had. The whole outfit felt constricting, if he was honest. Self-consciously, he checked for wrinkles or anything of the sort. Still, surely UA wouldn't have a problem if he wasn't perfectly dressed, right?
'1-A…' he read on the massive door. 'Is it that big for people with Mutation Quirks?' he wondered for a moment, even though he knew it was likely that. He'd seen similar things before. No, the real reason he stopped was because he was nervous.
It wasn't even just him. People inside the building were feeling quite the same, which might have been the reason he was so affected by it. 'Stupid students, what reason do they have to be nervous?' Maybe it was hypocritical of him, but Kazuki thought he had better reasons than most.
'God, I almost wish Mineta was here,' Kazuki grumbled to himself before sighing and pushing the door open. He didn't expect there to be people inside, if he was honest. First, because he'd arrived fairly early, mainly because he lived close by. Second, because he hadn't felt anyone inside at all.
He was wrong, however, because there seemed to be three people inside already. A girl, tall, black hair and with a body that he wouldn't have been surprised to see in some magazine, and not the tasteful kind. A boy, with red and white hair, the colors splitting in the middle, and a scar on his face. And finally… what he thought was a boy, although since the person had a bird's head, it was difficult to tell.
"Kazuki Endo, nice to meet you," he said plainly with a slight wave of his hand before he started moving towards a desk. None of them looked particularly friendly, in all honesty. Instantly, he felt a spike in his senses. A slight sadness coming from the girl, although he couldn't fathom why.
"Kazuki Endo, the first place in the Entrance Exam?" the bird person, most probably a boy considering the voice, asked. The negative empath turned to regard him for a moment. Only people that were in the top ten got to see the list so… "Fumikage Tokoyami," the bird-faced guy introduced himself then. "Nice to meet you."
As he spoke though, Kazuki also felt another spike, this time from the other male in the room and of annoyance.
"You were in the list too, right? I think you were… Ninth?" he asked, frowning as he tried to remember.
"Tenth," the boy corrected with a nod. Kazuki was almost impressed that he didn't feel any envy or anger from him, actually. He'd half expected that.
"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," the girl said then, making them both turn towards her. "I hope we'll learn much together."
"Same, I guess," Kazuki replied hesitantly, judging by the nod that Fumikage offered, they'd already been introduced to each other. When he turned towards the still slightly annoyed half and half boy, he didn't say anything for a long moment. "And, what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" he said in the end, more than a little uncomfortable. He was certainly underprepared for social settings, he thought wryly.
"Shoto Todoroki," was the curt response he got, and that was that.
Nodding, Kazuki decided to leave it at that. Someone wasn't a very social person, and he could respect that. Neither did Fumikage seem to be, really. As for Yaoyorozu… She seemed like a good person. Too good, maybe. Mineta was one thing, he was a bit of a shitty person himself, so Kazuki had no problems being on friendly terms with him.
He didn't have any delusions of how things would go once his classmates found out what his backstory was like, after all. It was better to be prepared for when things blew over and having a nice person for a friend would likely backfire, he imagined. He did have to wonder if he'd be able to keep that up though.
Internally sighing, Kazuki moved to a desk and took a seat. He resolutely ignored the disappointment he felt coming from Yaoyorozu. As he waited for something to happen, however, he was struck by a sudden realization.
None of the three had reacted whatsoever to how he looked.
Not in a way he could sense, at least.
'Then again, this is a hero school… It'd make sense for students here to be less discriminatory, right?' Kazuki mused, nonetheless pleased that at least he wouldn't have to deal with feelings of fear, disgust or such. 'At least until they find out,' he added with a grimace.
Many people came in after that, and Kazuki amused himself contemplating ideas for Grimm, like he'd been doing ever since his future had been sort of decided for him. His current "designs" were adequate, but he had no delusions that he'd need more. If only to cover for more roles in any hypothetical situation.
Beowolves were his fighters. And tracking too, Kazuki supposed.
Nevermores were good for mobility, nevermind the fact that they flew.
Imps were good for utility, what with having actual hands.
Not a whole lot of variety at his disposal, that was for sure. However, it was a good enough set for the moment. There were glaring holes in that arsenal though. Beowolves were decent enough for defense, but they could certainly be better at it. Imps were all rounders, but maybe Kazuki could come up with better options for utility that were more specialized. Besides that, flying was all well and good, but maybe he could make something that moved well on ground and water too, just in case. One could never know.
'Lots of ideas to consider,' Kazuki thought to himself, absently tapping on the wood of the desk. 'I need to get better at sensing too,' he considered, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn't need to do that to increase his ability to feel others' emotions, but it certainly helped better filter what was what, where it came from and such things.
The nervousness was increasing in number, which made sense, since slowly the school was welcoming more and more students into its halls. There were specks of annoyance, anger, envy, disappointment, sadness and so on, however. Kazuki did his best to place where all of them were. Pinpointing locations like that was something he was less skilled at, he'd admit. He also wasn't sure he could get better at that, but he could try and that's what he would do.
He took a deep breath in.
'This is hard,' Kazuki thought, his hand clenched into a fist. 'Why did it have to be negative emotions?' he lamented, not for the first time. He knew they weren't his, but that wasn't how his Quirk worked. He felt them just as much as if they were his own emotions, that's why it'd always got to him as a child. Hell, it still got to him then, if he was honest. He was just much better at keeping it under control.
"Creepy!"
"Tiny," he greeted, a slight smile forming on his face. Mineta looked somewhat fine, he noticed, but his sense was telling him that the guy was nervous. Very much so, actually. A second look confirmed that the short boy wasn't doing a very good job at keeping that hidden, but that was fine, he supposed. "Nobody walked over you today?"
"One goddamn time," Mineta muttered through gritted teeth, eyes twitching as he took the seat next to Kazuki. "Anyway, have you seen? It seems that there'll be at least one beauty in our class," he added, staring rather… lustfully towards Yaoyorozu.
Kazuki grimaced then.
"Dude, don't do that. You are making her uncomfortable," he said, which was… not quite the truth, but also not a lie. Uncomfortable was certainly a word for it, even if it was quite the understatement.
"I don't-" Yaoyorozu started but Kazuki raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm used to that," she said then, looking away. They'd drawn the attention of the other two in the classroom, but they didn't seem interested enough to actually participate, from what Kazuki could tell.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you are," Kazuki said with a half-smile. She was beautiful, after all. "That doesn't change that his comment and stare made you uncomfortable. Don't bother denying it," he added, waving off her protest before it happened. "My Quirk lets me feel the negative emotions of others around me."
The girl pursed her lips then, clearly put off by the fact that she couldn't get away with lying. Or maybe she saw his Quirk as an invasion of privacy? She wouldn't be the first, and Kazuki didn't have it in him to feel guilty anymore. It wasn't like he could control it.
"I see," she mumbled, turning to look away from Kazuki and Mineta.
"Not gonna apologize?" the former asked the latter, who rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said, barely sounding half serious, but that was enough for Kazuki. He wasn't the guy's mother, after all. "Don't know why you had to make a big deal out of that," Mineta added then, turning to look at him.
"Besides wanting to be a hero and that implying I have to help people?" Kazuki asked, raising an eyebrow at the short boy. "Feeling negative emotions isn't fun. If I can do something about that, I'll do it. It's worse and worse the closer they are, so I'd like to keep people in the same room as me in as good a mood as I can."
"Ah… Suppose that makes sense," Mineta mumbled to himself, looking around for a bit. "Think there'll be any other hot girls in here?"
"For fuck's sake," Kazuki sighed. Then he did it again at the scandalized look Yaoyorozu shot them. "Anyway," he continued then, already feeling done with it all. 'This is gonna suck, I can already tell,' he thought to himself, holding back a grimace. "I'd guess there'll be a few more girls. It'd be weird if there's only one. Besides that… I dunno. Heroes have good builds though, don't they?"
"That's the spirit, Creepy."
"Maybe I should get new friends," Kazuki mumbled to himself.
"You hurt me, man. You hurt me deeply," Mineta said, dramatically putting a hand over his "wounded" heart. "So, what were you doing before I got here? This seemed quiet."
"I was trying to work on my sensing, think up new Grimm," Kazuki told his short friend. "People here didn't… seem very sociable, and I'm not the best at that either so… Yeah."
"Hm… Guess I can see that," Mineta said, looking around. His eyes inevitably found Yaoyorozu once more. "I wouldn't mind being sociable with-" he was interrupted by a punch to the shoulder. "The hell, Creepy?!"
"I'd much prefer to feel pain to what you make her feel with your shit, Tiny," Kazuki grumbled. "Control yourself, will you?"
"No fun at all," Mineta muttered to himself. "Anyway, feel like brainstorming together, man? I don't think there's much to do and I think you'll punch me again if I look at… What's her name again?"
Kazuki rolled his eyes and wondered why, again, he'd made friends with the short guy.
"Yaoyorozu Momo, the guy over there is Todoroki Shoto and… What was your name again, man?" he asked a little louder, aware that their conversation could be heard by the others. He fidgeted with his fingers nervously for a moment after voicing the question. "I'm… sort of bad with names, sorry."
"No worries, fellow dark dweller," the crow-headed guy replied and Kazuki blinked. 'Dark dweller?' he mouthed to Mineta who just shrugged. "My name is Tokoyami Fumikage," the boy said, nodding with utmost seriousness. Something that looked weirdly expressive, considering he had a bird's head, but whatever.
"Sorry again," Kazuki said, before turning to his friend. "There you have it."
"Hm, I'll probably forget all of them except the beau- Ouch, okay okay, relax, damnit," Mineta started before crying out and raising his hands placatingly. After that, the two of them just sat there and waited while talking about ideas for their Quirks. They didn't really bother being too quiet, but it wasn't like they were shouting the stuff either. Kazuki idly wondered how much the others heard.
Soon, more people started coming into the classroom. Some more forgettable than others, like the guy with a tail that Kazuki had already forgotten the name of. Some others left a much more lasting impression, like Mezo Shoji, who had three arms on each side, which had some sort of skin webbing connecting them. Kazuki honestly did his best to remember all of them, but it was a bit much for him, if he was honest. If he could recall a handful of them, he'd be surprised and a little proud, really.
"Ah, an eye buddy!" a pink girl cried out, immediately beelining towards Kazuki.
"Eye buddy? What?" he said, confused as he was snapped out of his conversation with Mineta. Or maybe it was more accurate to say his lecture with Mineta, since the guy hadn't been able to control himself quite so well when more girls walked into the classroom.
"Yeah, our eyes are similar!" the girl said enthusiastically. 'Huh, she's right,' He mused, blinking his black and red eyes as he looked at her black and yellow ones. "I'm Mina Ashido, nice to meet you!"
"Kazuki Endo, nice to meet you too," he replied, leaning back a little since the girl was a little too close. That is, until a hand settled on her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Don't mind her, she can be a bit… enthusiastic," a boy with red spiky hair said apologetically. "Eijiro Kirishima."
"And I'm Minoru Mineta, but nobody cares, right?"
"I call him Tiny though," Kazuki offered, drawing a snort from both teens.
"And I call him Creepy," the short one shot back, drawing a chuckle and a giggle from the two newcomers in their little group.
"Oh oh, would I be Pinky?" Ashido asked, bouncing excitedly. Her question went unanswered for a moment, because her motions did something to her chest that had Mineta more than a little distracted. As for Kazuki… Well, he liked to think he fared better, mainly because any lust was overridden with annoyance at his friend's behavior. Guy had never heard about subtlety, it seemed.
"Fits well enough in my opinion."
"And I'd be Hardy?" Kirishima wondered, tilting his head. Seeing the confused expression on the white-haired teen, the boy explained then. "My Quirk is Hardening. I can make my body… Well, harder."
"Hm… Nah, you'd be Pointy, I think," Mineta said, having eventually snapped out of his… thoughts, for lack of a better word. Kazuki had to agree with him there though, looking at Kirishima's hair.
"Yeah, it fits," Ashido agreed with another giggle.
"What would I be then?" a new voice asked, making them all jump. When Kazuki turned to see who this new person – A girl, judging by the voice – was… He saw a uniform, floating there as if-
"Hagakure?" he said, blinking at the new arrival. He was pretty sure there wouldn't be more invisible students, Quirks were usually pretty distinctive, even if some could be rather similar to others. "When did you get here?"
"Just now," the girl replied, and even though they couldn't see it, Kazuki was pretty sure she was grinning. "We both made it, Endo, and we are in the same class, isn't it great?"
"Didn't tell me you already knew a beauty that'd come here," Mineta grumbled, a whisper that was barely heard. "Some friend you are, Creepy."
"Know is a strong word," Kazuki said then with a wry smile. "We met during the practical exam."
"So cold of you, Endo, I thought we were friends," Hagakure lamented, and he could hear the pout in her voice. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be actually offended.
"Wait, she's asking the real questions," Ashido interrupted before they could continue, eyes narrowed in utmost seriousness. "I'm Pinky, he's Pointy, they are Creepy and Tiny. What will you be?"
"Well, we can't really decide by appearance, can we?" Kirishima mused, as if it was an actually important thing to decide. "Ghosty, maybe?"
"That sounds scary though!" Hagakure protested.
"Bubbly?" Kazuki suggested, leaning back on his chair and wondering when had so many people gathered around him. At least he wasn't picking up any emotions from them, which was good.
"I like it!" Hagakure said, pointing at him with her hand… Or so he thought, since he could only see the sleeve of her uniform doing so.
"Yeah, besides, we already have Creepy for the scary factor, right?" Mineta muttered, still sulking without feeling any actual annoyance, or at least not all that much.
"I don't know, guys," Ashido said, placing a finger over her lips thoughtfully. "Pointy had a point. We are going by appearance."
Their conversation, and the others for that matter, was interrupted when someone kicked the door open. No longer distracted by the relatively calm chat, Kazuki instantly picked up on a lot of anger and annoyance coming roughly from the door's direction. It was interesting, really, since most of the feelings he was picking involved nervousness in some way, except for this guy.
"Is Kazuki Endo here?" the blonde boy that had walked in asked, all but growling. The crowd around him looked between the new arrival and Kazuki, curious as to what was going on.
"Ah, that'd be me," he replied, giving the new guy a confused tilt of his head. "Do I know you?"
"You should, goddamn side character," the guy said, his emotions bleeding into his voice as he stalked towards the white-haired boy. "I'm Katsuki Bakugo."
'Ah, second place, wasn't he?' Kazuki thought to himself.
"I don't know what trick or stroke of luck you got to take first place from me, but I'll prove it to you and to everyone. I'm the best here," Bakugo declared with utmost certainty. "I'll be the Number One Hero, mark my words."
"Ah… that's nice?" Kazuki replied blandly, making the blonde's eyes twitch. A second later, the guy all but stomped his way to a further chair. "Well, we can agree that he's… Angry, right?" he asked, still looking at the guy.
Ashido groaned.
"That was terrible, Creepy."