March 5th 2418 – UA Academy - Musutafu, Japan
Waking up early in the morning, Sage rolled out from under the warm covers into the cold morning air. Shivering slightly, he made his way over to his wardrobe and donned a casual outfit to work in.
He had considered getting ready in his UA uniform but decided it would be smarter to don it after having a shower later.
Stretching his muscles and stiff limbs as he walked, Sage made his way downstairs into his lab. Stepping into the regulated temperature of his workspace, he breathed a sigh of relief while thanking his past self.
When he was initially designing his lab, Sage had decided to vent the excess heat from his reactor through the floors and walls—after all, everything tended to work better when the temperature didn't change.
Putting his past decisions out of his mind, Sage walked over to the large collection of different printers lining the far wall and opened one. Reaching in, he grabbed out a tiny electrical circuit before holding it up to the light, a satisfied smile crossing his face.
Nodding happily, he proceeded to grab the rest of the parts from the different printers. By the time he retrieved the last component, he was left with dozens of different parts ranging from basic aluminium frames to complex electronics.
Taking his parts, he made his way over to his electronics workbench. Sitting down, he cracked his knuckles before starting work.
As the hours ticked by, he tried his best to stay focused, but distractions kept pulling him away from his task.
The first time he got distracted, Sage walked over to a corner of his lab and began practicing with his new quirk. What he'd quickly learned about it was that it started stronger than his other quirks—something he chalked up to his improved stats.
Still, despite being stronger than his other quirks at the start, it remained weak and constrained to an area of about two meters in all directions. It was also imprecise, and at the moment Sage could only shift the air with a bit of force and slightly lower its density.
'Hmm, this one is interesting. I feel I may eventually be able to separate the gases that make up the atmosphere. That's definitely worth the effort.'
The second time he got distracted, Sage began pulling apart the reinforced gorilla arms he'd received from his quest.
At their core, the gorilla arms were a unique piece of technology—packed with complex systems clearly designed to mimic the effects of human biology. The synthetic muscle fibres contracted and expanded with remarkable efficiency, while micro-hydraulics provided the explosive strength.
During his brief study of the otherworldly tech, Sage came up with several possible improvements he could make and jotted them down. It was only as he was writing down his ideas that he remembered to continue his work on the glasses.
The third time he got distracted, he started theorizing different ways of helping Toru control her quirk, his mind searching for a more permanent solution so he could complete his quest and help her.
In his brief tests the previous day, Sage had come to several conclusions about the true nature of Toru's quirk. First of all, 'Invisibility' was a misleading name for her ability.
From what he could observe, Toru's quirk projected a field around her, level to her skin, that prevented photons from interacting with any object inside it, herself included.
Proof of this was that any mark at or below her skin level would be invisible, such as the marker lines from yesterday. Sage had also tested this by asking Toru to put a camera in her mouth—admittedly weird, but the data had been fascinating.
While Toru's mouth was open, the camera functioned normally, but as soon as she closed her mouth, the device completely stopped working and everything went dark.
From this, Sage inferred that Toru had some unconscious control of her quirk. If she were given the right opportunity, she might be able to gain conscious control.
So Sage was drafting up a design for a device that could interface with Toru's nervous system and help her seize control of her quirk, allowing her to turn it on and off at will.
It was an unconventional solution, but he'd long since stopped caring about what was supposedly normal. If Toru was willing, he was more than ready to help her, with any means necessary.
Eventually, as time continued to pass, he finally got the glasses finished just before his alarm went off. Cleaning up his workbench, Sage put the glasses on before clicking the small button on the side.
Turning on with a soft beep, his vision instantly warped as previously invisible objects suddenly became visible. At the same time, a mesh outline pulsed across the room before fading out.
A feature he'd added was an automatic checker that compared input from the different light spectrums and ultrasonic sensors, blocking out any overlapping information so his vision wouldn't be overwhelmed. In practice, this meant the ultrasonic sensor didn't contribute anything to his vision at the moment.
'I wonder if I'll be able to see Toru with these. I might be able to finally look her in the eyes while I talk to her!'
Nodding happily, he took off the glasses and tucked them into his pocket before heading upstairs to shower.
After showering, he returned to his room and donned his UA uniform—a pair of dark green pants, topped with a grey jacket over a white undershirt and finished with a red tie. Glancing at his reflection, Sage had to admit that he made the basic uniform look quite good.
'I look good. I'm glad I had my tailors spruce up my uniform a bit.'
Nodding at his reflection, Sage turned and headed downstairs for breakfast. After a quick meal, he headed for the door. Walking with a destination in mind, space warped around him and Sage disappeared from reality. A few seconds later, he appeared a city over, right outside UA.
Smiling, he headed inside the main school building. Weaving through the many different corridors, he eventually found his classroom.
'Wow, that door is massive! That's got to be at minimum five meters tall. I'm glad whoever designed this was smart enough to set a smaller door into it.'
Stepping forward, he pushed open the smaller, more normal-sized door before stepping inside. Looking down at the man lying on the floor in a sleeping bag, Sage decided to put it out of his mind for now.
Moving away from the entrance, he paused at the front of the room, looking up at the people already inside.
Among the many students present, Sage noticed all of them were familiar in some way. He spotted several of his favourite characters—Fumikage Tokoyami with his dark, brooding presence, Denki Kaminari's electric-blonde hair catching the light, and Eijiro Kirishima's distinctive red hair.
However, he reminded himself that they weren't 2D characters from an anime anymore—they were real people who would likely differ from what he remembered.
At the same time, he noticed Momo was already here and walked over to sit next to her in the front row.
"Morning, Momo. When did you get here?"
Smiling up at him, Momo closed her book and set it down. "Good morning to you as well, Sage. I arrived about an hour ago."
Nodding in response, Sage sat down while pulling out his own book. However, before he could open it, he was distracted by a girl he'd never seen before.
Walking in through the door with a cold, unapproachable aura around her, she made her way straight to the back row. Taking a seat, she sat ramrod straight, her posture seeming almost forced and wrong.
'Hmm, who is that? She looks similar to one of the characters from the show... what was his name again?'
'That's right—she looks like Shoto Todoroki. She's got that distinctive hair and everything, but her eyes look really... empty. Dead, even.'
Curious, Sage put down his book and walked over to the girl with the red and white hair. Stopping just in front of her desk in the corner, he gently knocked on it.
Turning slowly, she looked him up and down with a lifeless expression before turning her gaze back out the window.
"It's nice to meet you. May I know your name?"
Deciding to be polite, Sage tried to get her attention by asking for her name. Turning her gaze back to him with a sigh, she looked him dead in the eyes for a moment. "Shoko Todoroki. Now scram."
Keeping it simple, she answered in a flat, cold tone while waving him off with her hand, her gaze drifting back to the window. Sighing, Sage recognized she didn't want to talk and turned back to the front as Toru stepped into the classroom.
Smiling, Sage walked between the desks back to his seat while Toru settled into the desk to his left. Smiling wider, Sage sped up and sat in his seat.
"Good morning, Toru. Did you sleep well? Also, I made these glasses... um, are you okay if I wear them?"
Pulling out his glasses, Sage showed them to Toru while offering to let her test them. Curious, Toru reached out and took the glasses from him with one of her gloved hands.
"I slept well, Sage, how about you? Also, why are you asking me if you can wear your glasses?"
Opening the glasses, she began turning them in place while looking them over while Sage explained.
"These glasses can filter invisible wavelengths of light into a visible form, and can use ultrasonic mapping to show items that either can't reflect light or if it's too dark. Why don't you try them on?"
Humming in acknowledgment, Toru turned the glasses around and put them on. Reaching over, Sage gently pressed the power button to activate them. Instantly, Toru released a gasp of awe while looking around frantically.
"Wow, these are incredible! I can see everything! But I still don't get it?"
Smiling at her joy, Sage let her experiment with the glasses for a while, until eventually she grew accustomed to them and handed them back.
"I made these glasses so I could see you. I'm not sure if they'll work, but I thought I'd check with you beforehand in case you wanted to remain invisible."
"I don't see why you would need to ask me if you could use them. Go ahead."
Gasping, Toru looked down at the glasses in her hand before passing them over with shaky hands. Tentatively taking back the glasses, Sage turned them and put them on.
Instantly, a tight web of tiny lines appeared over the invisible girl in Sage's vision. At the same time, a faint shimmer appeared around her as the glasses picked up a very minor distortion in the UV light around her.
Smirking, Sage turned his gaze and looked her square in the eyes. Sure, he couldn't see any details, but now he knew where her eyes were, and for now he was happy with just that.
Seeing Sage's eyes meet her own, Toru gasped in shock as a small, emotion-filled smile split her face, a single tear leaking down her cheek.
"You... you can see me?"
"Yes, I can, and you're beautiful."
Nodding with a smile, Sage was taken aback when Toru lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Stiffening up, Sage's brain short-circuited as he gently patted her back on instinct.
Recovering quickly, Toru pulled away after a few seconds, her head turning to the nearby wall as she averted her gaze, her hands coming up to hide her face and mask her embarrassment.
Chuckling lightly with his heart beating fast in his chest, Sage reached out and patted her head, a smile on his face as he ruffled her silk-like hair.
However, his head pats were interrupted by a light cough behind him. Looking over his shoulder in confusion, Sage saw Momo looking at him with an equally confused expression.
"What's going on? Why is Toru reacting like that? You two just started acting all weird and lovey-dovey."
Blushing ever so slightly, Sage averted his gaze while taking off his glasses. Holding them out to Momo, he explained.
"These glasses allow me to see Toru. She just got a bit emotional."
Perking up in excitement and curiosity, Momo took the glasses from him and put them on, her eyes widening as she looked around. However, seeing the highlighted form of Toru next to Sage, Momo shuffled forward, her gaze meeting Toru's own through her parted fingers.
"You're so pretty, Toru! It's a crime against the world that your quirk hides you from everyone."
Confused, Toru peeked through her fingers and noticed Momo staring at her intently. Blushing harder, Toru pressed her head against the desk while she continually fanned her face with her hands.
However, before anything else could happen, a small commotion at the door took Sage and Momo's attention. Glancing over, everyone in the room noticed a very angry blonde-haired student with small explosions popping around his hands, pushing past Izuku and Ochaco.
"Beat it, extras! You're in my way!"
Storming across the room, Katsuki Bakugo slammed his bag down on a desk by the window before taking a seat and staring out the window while brooding.
Ignoring the altercation, the door slammed shut, which once again got everyone's attention. Looking back at the entrance, Sage noticed the very large caterpillar-like man lying on the ground behind Izuku, his hand still on the door.
"Welcome to UA's hero course..." Stopping mid-sentence, the man stood up, his sleeping bag unzipping slightly, and he sipped on a juice box. "It took eleven seconds for you all to shut up. That's not going to work. Time is precious."
Unzipping his sleeping bag fully, the man stepped out of it, giving Sage a better view. He stood at 183 centimetres tall with long black hair, deep bags under his eyes, and a strange white scarf around his neck.
"Hello. I'm Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. Right, let's get to it. Put these on and meet me outside." Speaking in a tired monotone, he fished out a large pile of UA sports uniforms from his sleeping bag, tossed them on his desk, and turned to leave.
Seeing the door shut behind their homeroom teacher, an awkward silence overtook the room. The only one to interrupt it was Iida, who, being a model student, stepped forward.
"Okay, everyone, you heard our teacher. Line up and get your uniforms—we can't betray his expectations!"
Stomping forward with a growl, Bakugo pushed past Iida, flipped through the pile, and grabbed one in his size. Turning without any extra fanfare, he left the room.
"Okay then... I guess that happened."
Getting up from his desk, Sage patted a shocked Iida on the shoulder before finding a uniform in his size.
"I'll meet you outside, Toru. Momo, you can hold onto my glasses until then."
Waving goodbye, Sage made his way out to the changing room while the rest of the class began moving. As he stepped outside, a chime from his system caught his attention.
{New Story Quest: The Quirk Assessment}
This is one of the very first events to happen in the plot, and it's through this test that the class power structure is established.
Goal: Finish in the top three.
Bonus Goal: Finish first
Reward: 4000xp, Item: Aegis Fruit
Bonus Reward: Quirk: Illusion
'Nice—my very first story quest, and it's got some impressive rewards.'