Chapter 20: I, Yoshikage Kira, Just Want a Quiet Life
"Hey, Kira. Look at that half-and-half bastard over there," Katsuki Bakugo said, suddenly walking up to Yoshikage Kira and gesturing with an air of entitlement.
The thought that had just crossed Kira's mind—luring Momo Yaoyorozu to a secluded grove—vanished instantly. He looked at Bakugo with a deadpan expression. "I have to ask, do you just enjoy giving people nicknames?"
"Shut up. The guy's hair is half red and half white, like a split-pot nabe. What else would you call him?" Bakugo retorted impatiently, his gaze fixed seriously on the second-place student, Shoto Todoroki. "But he's strong. His Quirk is ice. He's way stronger than you, at least."
Looking at the "half-and-half bastard" he was talking about... Kira recalled what Inasa Yoarashi had said before: "Endeavor's son looks like a product forcibly stitched together from two incompatible people."
His hair was indeed split perfectly down the middle, half red and half white. His handsome face was marred by a burn scar over his left eye, on the red-haired side. When he noticed both Kira and Bakugo looking at him, he didn't react, simply turning away coolly and rejoining the main group heading back to the school building.
"Even if he is strong, what does that have to do with me?" Kira said softly.
"You really have no competitive spirit," Bakugo said with a hint of disgust. "No competitive spirit, no desire to win... What kind of hero are you trying to be? Go on home."
He stomped off, muttering under his breath, "I really misjudged you. You don't have what it takes to compete with me for first place."
"Is that so..." Kira looked up at the sky. "But I, Yoshikage Kira, just want to live a quiet life."
The next few days passed like a normal school week. They had math, Japanese, English, and other subjects every day, as if the fitness test on the first day had been just a dream. The students of Class 1-A gradually settled into the new atmosphere.
"Kaminari, quick, let me see your homework!"
"Mineta, you didn't do your homework again today?"
A boy with a lightning bolt pattern in his hair, whose color scheme was reminiscent of the super-popular character Pikachu, was named Denki Kaminari. He sat at his desk, head in his hands, looking with resignation at Minoru Mineta, who was bouncing in front of him.
Although Mineta had been terrified of being last in the fitness test, nearly thinking he'd be expelled, he was saved by Aizawa-sensei's revelation that it was all a joke. After behaving for a few days, his true, lazy nature emerged, and he had already copied Kaminari's homework several times.
"No way," Kaminari said with a pout. "I worked hard on this last night. I'm not letting you steal the fruits of my knowledge."
"Then... two volumes!" Seeing that class was about to start, Mineta stamped his foot, made a decision, and looked up with a pained expression. "Two volumes of big-sister sexy magazines!"
"Deal!" Kaminari handed the homework over to Mineta with lightning speed. Though he had a perverted grin on his face, he still said, "We're brothers, aren't we? It's just homework, take it!"
The reason these two had become so close was simple—they were both proud and shameless perverts, making no effort to hide their true colors.
On the first day after school, Mineta happened to see a photo on Kaminari's phone of a recently popular model who had debuted with a sexy image. He instantly blurted out her name. And thus... their revolutionary friendship was forged.
"Heh heh heh... big sisters with full chests really are the best..."
"So creepy," a girl sitting next to Kaminari said with an undisguised look of disgust.
Her name was Kyoka Jiro. She had chic, short purple hair, but what was most striking were the long earlobes that ended in what looked like headphone jacks. Her earlobes, as long as side-swept bangs, were plugged into her phone, secretly playing music.
"What did you say, Earphone Jack?" Kaminari slammed his desk and shot to his feet indignantly. "What's it to you what we talk about? Besides, it's true. A flat-chested girl with no feminine charm like you will never be popular."
"What did you say?!" Jiro exploded. She hated it when people commented on her figure. Someone who had passed the U.A. entrance exam wasn't about to take that lying down. She stood up, ready to teach that Pikachu a lesson.
"Um... everyone, it's best not to fight..." Momo Yaoyorozu, sitting behind them, stood up in a fluster and tried to intervene. "Can't we talk about this calmly...?"
"I would never fight a girl," Kaminari said, turning his head to mock Jiro. "You should learn from Yaoyorozu's... generosity. Unlike some people... hmph."
Yaoyorozu was a very eye-catching girl, for one simple reason—she had a mature bust that was completely at odds with her age. Though she was only about fifteen, she was very well-developed. Combined with her tall stature, some would even believe she was a teacher.
Jiro looked enviously at Yaoyorozu's chest. Only after Yaoyorozu felt a certain resentful gaze and subconsciously covered her chest did Jiro reluctantly look away. She ignored Kaminari's taunts and slumped back into her seat, dejected.
Do all men like big boobs...? she thought, looking down. Her line of sight went straight to the floor without obstruction...
Ugh, I really hate people who talk about other people's bodies.
"Why... she's just a high schooler..." she muttered a string of incoherent words.
"Good morning, everyone!" Ochaco Uraraka said, walking into the classroom and greeting Midoriya and Iida with a smile.
"Ah?! Good morning!" Izuku Midoriya replied, flustered but quick to respond.
Perhaps because they had gotten to know each other before, the three of them seemed to have a very good relationship. In a class environment often filled with conflict, where many students still kept to themselves, their friendly atmosphere was particularly noticeable.
"Tch. Of course, weaklings only make friends with other weaklings," Bakugo sneered, looking at the foolishly smiling Midoriya, completely ignoring Kira sitting right next to him.
For some reason, Bakugo never bothered to lower his voice when he was muttering to himself, which gave Kira the absurd feeling that "he must want me to hear this."
Kira closed the book he was previewing and looked at Bakugo with a sense of resignation. "I have to ask, are you perhaps envious?"
"I just can't stand Deku," Bakugo shot back, glancing at Kira. "What about you? What are you sitting there so quietly for? Isn't Deku your friend?"
"Friends don't have to be stuck together all the time," Kira said, a sudden interest piqued. "By the way, I heard from Midoriya that you two are childhood friends, right?"
"What?" Bakugo looked as if he'd heard a joke, his smile slowly turning into a snarl. "That guy is just my punching bag."
"..."
Is that how you treat a punching bag...?
Kira looked over at Midoriya, who was now in his seat, giving a shy smile to the people around him. That complex mix of envy, fear, and resentment... Bakugo, that's how you treat a rival. You've never truly looked down on Midoriya.
"Ah, that's enough."
Kira stood up and clapped his hands, getting the attention of the rowdy Class A students. "Ahem, I'm going to start collecting the homework."
Although Kira had only placed fifth in the fitness test, his top score on the written portion of the entrance exam meant he was temporarily serving in that loathsome role—the class representative for homework.
As a side note, the written exam scores did not include the two students admitted through special recommendation.
"Minoru Mineta, time to hand in your homework, isn't it?" Kira collected the other students' work first, then walked over to the furiously scribbling Mineta. He looked with exasperation at the girl in the next aisle who was also frantically copying from a notebook. "And you, Mina Ashido. You didn't do your homework either?"
"Hee hee..." She pressed her hands together and bowed her head, pleading with Kira. "I was on the phone with my junior high friends all night and forgot to do my homework. Please give me a little time, I'll be done soon!"
"Then you'd better hurry up..."
Kira sighed. He really shouldn't have taken on this chore. But who could refuse when All Might himself had pointed him out to Aizawa, saying, "Haha! I believe young Kira has the ability to handle this task perfectly!"
To be honest, because of the incident at Seaside Park, Kira always felt that All Might knew something. But since he hadn't said anything directly, Kira also pretended not to know. However, he felt he had no right to refuse All Might's meaningful suggestion. It was a small matter, after all, so he didn't particularly resist and just tacitly accepted.
It didn't take long. The two of them quickly handed their notebooks to Kira.
Mineta wiped the sweat from his brow and said with a flourish, "Homework is a piece of cake." He seemed completely unaffected by the disdainful looks from those around him.
Kira placed the homework on the teacher's desk and returned to his seat.
Truly, I, Yoshikage Kira, love this quiet life the most.