Walking in through the gates of U.A., this time donning the student uniform, Kaito glances at the chatterbox walking to his left.
"I wonder what our classmates will be like! I'm shaking, I'm so excited!"
"Sigh... You've been saying the same thing since getting on the train."
Mina speeds up to stand in front of the two, turning to look at Eijiro on Kaito's right.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you're not excited, Kaito? Eijiro, what about you?!"
The spiky redhead replies with a laugh.
"Of course I'm excited, but Mina, you should already know what Kaito is like."
"I'm standing right here, you know...?"
Ignoring him, Mina turns towards the school, grumbling, and continues forward as the two boys follow behind.
"Bah, he's just so serious and unbothered most of the time. It almost feels like talking to an adult sometimes, it's no fun."
Kaito's lips twitch.
"I'm still right here, you know?"
Some time later...
Arriving at the front door of Class 1-A, his two companions marvel at the easily 4-meter (13′1″) tall door as Kaito unceremoniously slides it open and walks inside to find most of the class already filled.
With us here, there are only three students missing...
Kaito's appearance garners the attention of everyone inside as they turn to look at him. Shortly after, a blue-haired, glasses-wearing student makes his way over to them.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Tenya Iida."
Not particularly interested in socializing so early in the morning, Kaito gets it over with quickly.
"My name's Kaito Graves."
Patting the blue-haired student on the shoulder, Kaito makes his way towards his assigned desk as he hears Mina talking behind him.
"Sorry about him! My name is..."
It said second column, last row...
Ignoring the stares heading his way, Kaito sits down, making a quick inspection of his neighbors. The seat to his right is currently empty, while in front of him sits a bald student with a strangely shaped head. On Kaito's left is a student with a black bird head.
(AN: You're probably curious on who I replaced in the class for Kaito, so I guess I'll just say it now. I replaced Mineta. His quirk is good and it definitely has potential, but the main reason is his personality. I honestly just don't feel like writing anything to do with him. So just think of this story as an AU where he just wasn't born as I don't feel like putting him in class B either.)
Time passes as Kaito keeps to himself, not interacting with anyone.
Eventually, the door slams open as a spiky blond-haired student with a scowl on his face comes in through the door. He scans the room before clicking his tongue and moving to his seat, at which point he sits down, leans back in his chair, and plants his legs on the desk.
This seems to irritate Iida as he marches up to the blond, at which point they start an argument.
Kaito slouches on his desk, whispering to himself.
"Quiet down, you morons..."
Getting frustrated with the noise, he closes his eyes and blocks his ears.
The comforting silence and gentle wind blowing on his face calms his nerves.
'Wait... wind?'
'Kaito!'
Zoroark's ghostly voice makes him abruptly open his eyes, only to find he's standing in a vast open field with all of his Pokémon standing in front of him.
"What...? Is this the Inner World?"
Before he can inspect it further, he is shaken awake.
With an unsatisfied expression, Kaito opens his eyes in the classroom. Turning to his left, he sees Eijiro holding his shoulder.
"...What is it?"
The redhead points towards the door with his thumb.
"The teacher wants us to go to the training ground for some reason."
Glancing around, Kaito sees most of the class has already exited the room.
'What bad timing...'
Standing up from his desk, the duo trail the rest of the class from behind.
Some time later...
Inside the locker room, Kaito undresses, his muscular but compact frame on full display. Quickly putting on the tracksuit pants given to them, before he can put on the tracksuit jacket, a voice from behind interrupts him.
"Whoa, cool arm! Is that your quirk?"
Turning around, Kaito sees a yellow-haired student with a patch of black hair shaped like a thunderbolt.
"...It's a prosthetic."
"Oh..." The student rubs the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression.
Now that Kaito has turned around, he feels the stares of his classmates gravitate towards the scar on his right shoulder.
Feeling uncomfortable, he quickly wears the tracksuit jacket, hiding it from view.
Before Kaito makes an exit, the same yellow-haired student extends his hand for a handshake.
"Sorry about that, I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. My name is Denki Kaminari, nice to meet you."
"It's fine. I'm Kaito Graves."
As they shake hands, the rest of the guys—apart from the scowling blond and neutral-looking half-white and half-red-haired student—come up to introduce themselves.
"Yo, my name is Hanta Sero."
"Bonjour..."
The greetings take a while, but eventually most of the male students get acquainted with one another before leaving for the training ground and grouping up with the girls.
While standing in the group, Kaito finally gets to see their homeroom teacher since he missed them in the classroom, Eraser Head. But instead of focusing on the person himself, he finds his gaze gravitating towards the "scarf" around the hero's neck.
'We should be getting our costumes soon, right? Kaito can't help but think with some excitement.'
Eraser Head turns to the class and gets straight to the point.
"We'll be doing a quirk apprehension test."
"A quirk apprehension test?!" Most of the class echoes.
"What about the entrance ceremony?" a brown-haired girl questions.
"If you're going to be a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events. One of U.A.'s selling points is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how teachers run their classes."
Done with the short speech, Eraser Head's gaze shifts towards Kaito.
"Graves, you finished at the top of the practical exam. In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"
"79 meters (about 259 ft)."
Kaito hears someone click their tongue off to his right before Aizawa continues.
"Then try doing it with your quirk."
Stepping forward, he grabs a softball from Aizawa's hand and steps into the circle. Kaito quickly sorts through his list of available moves, finding the one to get the best result, but before he can use it, he turns to the teacher and confirms.
"As long as I don't exit the circle, anything goes, right?"
"Correct."
Kaito nods his head as a blue beam shoots out of his eyes, forming Gardevoir on his right.
"Whoa, what's that?"
"So pretty!"
He hears his classmates chattering from behind.
Kaito hands the softball he was given to Gardevoir and instructs her how far to go, as she is fully capable of continuously moving and teleporting for quite a while.
"About a kilometer (about 0.6 miles) should be good."
Gardevoir nods her head and starts teleporting with the ball in hand.
An awkward silence envelops the group as Aizawa eyes the device measuring the distance in his hand, while the students stay silent.
Some time later, Gardevoir returns to Kaito's side and enters the Inner World as Aizawa turns the device around for the whole class to see.
"1021.5 meters." Eraser Head narrates in a flat voice.
"Whoa, that's insane! She wasn't even gone for like a minute!"
Mina comes up to Kaito, elbowing him in the side.
"As impressive as always. But, this test looks really fun!"
At her words, Kaito feels their teacher's mood shift.
"It looks fun, you say?"
With a sinister grin, he drops a bombshell on the students.
"All right, whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and be immediately expelled."
"Huh?!" The class collectively shouts.
Their protests fall on the teacher's deaf ears as the tests begin.
1. 50-meter dash.
Kaito is paired up with Iida in the first group. As the blue-haired student with engines on his legs gets into starting position, Kaito stands upright, once again summoning Gardevoir.
"Get set... Bang!" The robot begins the test.
'Teleport.'
Kaito disappears from place, appearing past the finish line as Iida just begins to run.
"0.41 seconds," the robot once again announces.
Teleport practically solely relies on reaction time, but it also has a very slight activation delay and there's not much I can do about that.
Iida crosses the finish line, achieving a time of 3.04 seconds.
Kaito extends his hand for a fist bump, which Iida awkwardly returns.
'Is he not used to it?'
2. Grip strength.
Approaching Aizawa, Kaito questions him:
"Can I use my prosthesis?"
Eraser Head lazily glances at his right hand before asking,
"It looks high-tech. Where is it from?"
"A scientist from I-Island made it."
"I-Island, huh?"
Aizawa appears to think for a second before making his decision.
"Measure both of your hands."
"Sure."
Squeezing the dynamometer with his left hand, Kaito achieves a score of 91 kg (~200 lbs).
"Not bad. It looks like you don't skimp on your training," Aizawa lazily comments.
Switching hands, he grips it as hard as he can with the prosthesis, achieving a staggering score of 513.4 kg (1,132 lbs).
Aizawa nods his head, marking the scores in his tablet.
"That's I-Island for you."
3. Standing long jump.
Not much to say here, as Kaito teleports over the sand pit with Gardevoir, clearing it.
4. Repeated side steps.
Originally a test he wouldn't do that well in. While the training with Mirko would definitely put him above average, Kaito's height and weight would put him at a disadvantage compared to nimbler students like Mina.
He also can't use teleport, as there is a few-second cooldown after each use.
(AN: As you can tell with the dash and this test, I'm putting some limits on teleport. I don't want it to become a get out of jail free card for any situation. Honestly even with these limits, it's good enough to be a top tier quirk by itself in my opinion.)
And with a teacher like Aizawa, he knows he has to show some effort.
"Sigh... this is gonna suck."
Standing in the measuring area, Kaito's silhouette takes on a pink hue as he lifts slightly off the ground from Gardevoir's Psychic.
"Start," the robot announces.
With the signal given, Gardevoir starts rapidly moving him side to side.
"Finish."
Gardevoir stops using Psychic, and Kaito drops to the ground, blocking his mouth with his hands as she crouches next to him with a worried expression.
'That was a mistake... Ugh.'
5. Ball throw.
"Infinity?!"
'A gravity quirk? That's rare.'
After Uraraka receives arguably the most impressive score of the test so far, Kaito waits for the next test to start as the green-haired Midoriya steps up. At a first impression, he certainly isn't impressed by the boy.
'He's a nervous wreck.'
Kaito yawns, anticipating an average result.
"This isn't looking good for Midoriya," Iida chimes in from beside him.
"Of course not. He's just a quirkless small fry," Bakugo barks from nearby.
Kaito glances at the blond with raised eyebrows before focusing on Midoriya.
'Quirkless? Maybe I judged him too soon...'
"Quirkless? Are you not aware of what he did during the entrance exam?" Iida answers in confusion.
'Or not? What kind of drama is this...?'
Nevertheless, Kaito observes Midoriya with intrigue.
It doesn't take long before Midoriya's nervous expression is replaced with a determined look as he cocks his arm back, ready to throw the ball. His arm begins to glow with a combination of orange and red.
'Oh...?'
But just before the ball leaves his hand, the glowing arm abruptly returns to normal.
"46 meters (151 ft)," the robot announces.
"Huh...? I was definitely trying to use it just now..." Midoriya says with a grim look on his face.
'Aizawa is intervening? I wonder why.' Kaito rubs his chin as he observes the teacher canceling the boy's quirk.
"The entrance test wasn't rational enough. Even someone like you was accepted."
'He's being quite harsh, but I have to respect him for it. No reason to baby someone aiming to succeed in this profession.'
Cutting out the unnecessary parts of the lecture, Kaito learns that Midoriya apparently can't control his quirk—something that strikes him as quite odd. In all his years as a vigilante, he's certainly seen unpredictable or wild quirks, but something uncontrollable?
'Maybe it's just rare...'
Eventually Midoriya is given a second chance. After a short while, he begins his throw, his arm no longer taking on the orange and red glow.
'Did he give up?' Kaito ponders with a slightly disappointed expression.
Just as the ball leaves Midoriya's hand, he notices his finger lighting up.
'Oh?'
Kaito's intrigue is satisfied as the ball is launched high into the air, the wind pressure ruffling his bangs, achieving a distance just slightly farther than Bakugo's.
'That was just his finger?'
Midoriya turns around clutching his right hand, allowing Kaito to see his bruised and obviously broken finger. The sight sends a slight shiver down his spine.
'He was going to break his whole arm for a ball throw?! Is he crazy?'
The green-haired boy rejoins the group as Kaito's gaze follows him, all while wearing a stupefied expression.
"Uh... G-Graves?" Midoriya prompts him nervously, catching his gaze.
Kaito snaps out of his daze and approaches the boy, summoning Gardevoir in the process, feeling a little sorry for continuously seeking her help.
'Sigh... Her skill set is just way too convenient. Hatterene is a better healer, but the surrounding students tension is too high right now.'
"You're one crazy guy. Let me help you with that. Life Dew."
Gardevoir conjures water droplets that seep into his finger, visibly healing it.
"I-It's healing?! You can heal as well, Kaito?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal."
He repeats the process once more, as even if it's just a finger, a broken bone and tendon is quite a bit harder to heal—especially with Life Dew.
"T-Thank you..."
Kaito nods before warning,
"Just try to get your quirk under control as soon as possible. I may be able to heal you, but that doesn't mean all the damage is fixed. If you continue like this, it won't end well for you."
Midoriya lowers his head with a grim expression.
"Thank you..."
"Graves." The stern voice of Aizawa prompts Kaito to turn toward him.
"What is it?" he asks with a neutral tone.
"I didn't tell you to heal his finger. No one should be enabling him." The teacher glares, his voice taking on a threatening edge.
Kaito isn't one bit intimidated.
"So? Should I break it again then?" His nonchalant response makes Midoriya step back with a frightened expression as the rest of the class looks at Kaito with baffled faces.
Aizawa stares at the 2-meter (6'7") tall student, remembering a conversation from just a few weeks ago.
Flashback. Nezu's office.
"So? What do you think of your class, Aizawa?" Nezu questions with his usual small smile.
Sorting through the test papers, Aizawa frowns at the green-haired boy's paper before continuing and stopping on a particular sheet.
His frown fades as he turns the paper toward the mouse principal with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you think of this answer?"
"Hmm, let's see here... Oh, student Graves? Certainly a unique fellow. Usagiyama told me a few interesting stories, did you know..."
Before Nezu can take up the rest of his day with different stories, Aizawa interrupts.
"I'm not interested. What kind of answer is 'Freedom'?"
On the paper, the question Aizawa points to is the very last one: "For what reason(s) do you want to be a hero?"
Nezu's excited motioning stops abruptly as his expression turns neutral.
"Sigh... It's quite a broad answer, isn't it?"
Aizawa nods.
"Most applicants write something along the lines of respect for heroes, or that they were saved by a hero and want to be one. Hell, some even plainly state they want the fame and money."
Nezu nods in understanding.
"Student Graves is quite a... free spirit, let's just say. You can imagine what someone has to be like to be liked by Usagiyama, haha."
Aizawa glares slightly at the principal, picking up signs that he knows more than he lets on.
"Fine. I'll figure out what he's hiding myself."
End of flashback.
'Freedom...' Aizawa continues to stare at Kaito for a few seconds longer before turning around.
"I'll end this with a warning. Continue with the tests."
'A dangerous mentality. I need to whip him into shape before he can cause problems for the HPSC and ultimately himself. And that's if he hasn't already done so.'
The remaining tests pass uneventfully as Kaito flies on top of Metagross for the distance run and completes the seated toe touch as well as sit-ups without the assistance of his Pokémon.
"Okay, here are the results," Aizawa announces with a tired voice, projecting the scores.
1. Kaito Graves.
2. Momo Yaoyorozu.
3. Shoto Todoroki.
...
20. Izuku Midoriya.
'What? He scored lower than students who didn't even use their quirk?'
(AN: Slight tangent. The scores of the quirk apprehension test are honestly really strange to me. As a few students like Kaminari, Jiro, Koda and Toru gain practically no benefit in any of the tests. I guess there's an argument for saying that Midoriya still broke a finger, even if it's not an arm and the four students I mentioned just have no way to use their quirks in the tests so they're excused? And btw how did Todoroki outscore Bakugo? I just see Bakugo's quirk being way better in these tests. Well it ultimately doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Slight tangent over.)
"We're done here. There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom, so look over them."
Kaito separates from the group as they begin to chat, walking toward one last place he wants to check for the day.
"Huh? Hey Kaito! Where are you going?" Eijiro yells from behind.
Glancing back, he quickly responds,
"I want to check something. Wait for me at the front gate... Oh, and grab the handout for me, thanks."
Eijiro nods with a confused expression as Kaito heads in the opposite direction of the rest of his class in the first-year building.
Getting slightly lost along the way, he arrives at a similarly huge door as his own classroom, this one labeled 1-B.
Putting his ear up to the door, he doesn't hear anything. Figuring he won't interrupt, he slides the door open—only to freeze in slight embarrassment as he sees Vlad King standing at the front of the class, obviously in the middle of saying something.
"Uh... this is awkward. I guess it was soundproof." Kaito breaks the silence with a slight smirk.
Quickly glancing around the room, he finally spots the person he's been looking for sitting in the front row. Staring at her shocked expression, he opens his mouth.
"I'll wait outside. Let's catch up." Then he shuts the door closed.
After a few minutes of waiting, the door opens. Kaito leans against the wall as Vlad King steps out.
"Sorry for the interruption." He bows slightly, apologizing for his blunder.
"It's fine, it was nothing important. You're student Graves, correct? You were very impressive in the entrance exam, I must say," the teacher replies calmly.
"Thanks."
Vlad King nods his head and makes his exit.
"Well, I have somewhere to be. Good luck in your studies."
Just as Kaito stands up straight, a boy with blond hair and an annoying smirk pokes his head out of the classroom.
"So you're from 1-A? What is someone like—"
Before he can finish, he is yanked back inside, followed by a loud bang. A short while later, the orange-haired Itsuka makes her appearance.
"Hey Kaito! You kept your promise!"
Kaito chuckles at her excitement as the two start walking toward the exit.
"You still remember that? With how long it's been, I figured you'd have a change of heart or something."
"Haah? Are you crazy? I used that promise as motivation. Since I knew you were going to make it to U.A., I couldn't have you continue being a loner even there."
Kaito's amused expression vanishes as he gives Itsuka a slight sideways glare.
"I have friends..."
She looks at him with the most shocked expression he's ever seen before seemingly coming to a realization.
"Ah... Let me guess, they approached you first?"
Kaito puts on a neutral expression, shifting his gaze forward and choosing to remain silent as they exit the building.
"I was right? Hahaha! You're so obvious, haha!" Her boisterous laughter attracts the attention of nearby students.
Kaito ignores her, continuing toward Mina, who is standing with Eijiro, waving at him—until he feels a tug on his uniform, making him turn his head.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. Your expression was just hilarious." Itsuka wipes a few tears from her eyes before looking up at him with excitement.
"By the way, I haven't seen Zorua in a long time. Can you summon her, pretty please?"
With a slight smirk, Kaito obliges.
"Sure, just don't be surprised when you see her."
"Huh? What do—"
Before she can finish, a blue beam of particles shoots out of his eyes (AN: kind of getting tired of writing "a blue beam of particles shoots out of his eyes" I'll just write summon, you should get the idea by now.), forming Zoroark.
"Whoa! That's Zorua?"
Kaito nods.
"She goes by Zoroark now. Do you want to meet the others?"
Itsuka whips her head back at him before shouting in excitement,
"Others?! Come on! Bring them out!"
He promptly summons Gardevoir and Metagross, leaving Hatterene behind as he glances at the surrounding students spectating their interaction.
"Kaito, you're taking too long! We're gonna miss the train! By the way, who is this?" Mina comes up to his side along with Eijiro.
"Hmm? Oh, this is Itsuka..." Kaito raises an eyebrow, realizing he doesn't know her last name.
"Hey Itsuka. What's your last name now?"
Mina and Eijiro look at him strangely.
"You don't know?"
Before he can reply, Itsuka answers after finally stopping her raving about his Pokémon.
"We knew each other when I was in the same orphanage, but I was adopted. I'm Itsuka Kendo, by the way." She shakes hands with Mina and Eijiro.
His Pokémon return to the Inner World as the group starts walking outside the school. The two girls walk in front as they bond, while Kaito and Eijiro awkwardly trail behind. Eventually they reach a fork in the road, where they have to part ways.
"So you live in Musutafu now?" Kaito asks with mild interest.
Itsuka nods before her expression turns neutral as she looks up at him.
"Remember when you told me why you wanted to become a hero? Is it still for the same reason?"
"Sigh... You still remember that too?" Kaito sighs in exasperation.
She doesn't reply, continuing to stare at him.
Looking into her eyes, he sighs again before answering honestly.
"I'm... I'm not sure."
A small smile appears on her face as she turns around and says her goodbyes.
"It was fun catching up. See you guys around!"
"See you!" Mina waves energetically.
With just the trio left, they start heading toward the train station as Eijiro can't hide his curiosity any longer.
"What was the reason she was talking about?"
"Sigh... not you too."
Glancing to his left, Kaito sees Mina looking up at him in interest as well.
"Fine... when we were four, she asked me why I wanted to be a hero. And I gave her a partially true response, saying it was for the money. She was mad at me for a while after that."
"So that's not the reason anymore?"
Kaito's shoulders slouch slightly.
"I'm not even sure myself at this point..."
Eventually the group arrives back in Chiba, where they inevitably split up.
Come evening, Kaito is sitting cross-legged on his bed, trying to recreate the feeling from the classroom.
"All right, let's see what happens..."
(AN: A lot of author notes this chapter, sorry about that. Just wanted to say my thoughts. Also recent chapters are kind of low action and honestly next one will probably be similar, hopefully that isn't too slow, but this should change during USJ. I still haven't gotten this whole progression thing down, kind of just writing what I think.)