Sam was lying in his bed in the dorms.
He was staring at the ceiling—lost in his thoughts.
He couldn't get what he just heard out of his mind.
'*All Might gave you his quirk, didn't he?*'
He understood everything now.
'The reason Midoriya was breaking his body at first was because he wasn't born with his power, and thus his body had no natural failsafe for the overwhelming power.'
Sam understood the human body very well. He was trained to be the best soldier he could possibly be.
He knew the easiest ways to kill someone—especially people with quirks.
That was one of his specialties—finding the flaw in every quirk.
But the only one he could never find a flaw in, was All Might.
'Was All Might quirkless once?'
He theorized.
He sighed—feeling tired of thinking on the matter.
'It's not my issue. I couldn't care less about All Might and his quirk.'
He thought before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.
———
The next morning, everyone is in the commons, watching as Izuku and Bakugo do the chores around the house.
When the students woke up, they were made aware of the fact that Izuku and Bakugo went out after hours to fight.
Sam was eating a piece of toast with empty eyes.
He slept poorly the previous night, which wasn't unfamiliar to Sam. Even calling Rumi did nothing to make him feel better.
He could faintly hear the sounds of his classmates teasing Bakugo and Midoriya for being forced to clean the place—telling Bakugo to clean up for them like servants.
Sam wasn't paying attention though. He was thinking about other things.
'I can't stop thinking about them… Pale Hand.'
He knew they were going to come for him, but the paranoia has been eating him for days now.
After finishing his breakfast, he went back to the commons where everyone was getting ready to leave for the opening ceremony.
"Alright, I'm dipping."
Sam announced—getting the attention of his classmates.
"Oh! Wait for us!"
Mina yelled.
Sam rolled his eyes.
"You guys are making a big deal of Midoriya and Bakugo's lovers' spat. Just leave the lovebirds alone."
Sam calmly said—making Midoriya and Bakugo blush. Midoriya blushed in embarrassment while Bakugo blushed in both embarrassment and rage.
"I'LL KILL YOU SCARFACE!!!!"
Bakugo jumped at Sam, but was held back by Midoriya.
"Kaachan! Please, we need to clean!"
"Tch! I'll kill you later, Scarface."
Bakugo—still pissed—begrudgingly went back to his cleaning.
Meanwhile, Sero, Mineta and Kaminari broke out in laughter.
"Hahahaha! They are totally lovers!"
"You guys should kiss and make up!"
"I ship it!"
They mocked.
"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, EXTRA'S!!!"
Bakugo scowls and gives his most sour face possible at the trio, who quickly bolted out of the dormitory.
Sam casually walked out the door too.
"Jeez Sam, you really don't hold back on Bakugo."
Kirishima said.
"He's super scary! I really hope Deku-kun wasn't hurt too bad."
Uraraka looked down worriedly.
"Hmph! As the class representative it brings me great shame to see such lawlessness in my class! I should be punished for this disgrace!"
Iida criticized himself—still chopping the air with his arms.
"Dude chill out. It was their fault. Leave it at that."
Sam tried to calm Iida down.
"We better hurry. We don't want to be late for the opening ceremony."
Momo pointed out.
They all looked at their phones and saw they needed to hurry.
———
"Listen up! Everyone will need to get in line quickly and not screw things up! Time to head for the grounds!"
Iida chopped the air while motioning to the doors in front of him.
"You're the only one acting screwy."
Sero calmly pointed out.
"AS THE CLASS PRESIDENT, SUCH IS MY BURDEN!"
Iida yelled in justification.
"So, Aizawa-sensei isn't coming to this opening ceremony? Must be busy."
Uraraka wondered.
"Well, things are a bit different than they were last April."
Ojiro added.
The conversation is interrupted by many footsteps approaching.
"Hey class A! I heard the news!"
A familiar voice rang in Sam's head.
"No, not that goddamn-"
"TWO OF YOU! I HEARD TWO OF YOU FAILED THE LICENSING EXAM!!"
To Sam's dismay, the voice was none other than Neito Monoma—or as Sam calls him, the most obnoxious cunt ever.
He wore a shit-eating grin—textbook Monoma.
The rest of his classmates felt irritated by being in his presence as well.
"Monoma, from class B! You're still as charming as ever!"
Kaminari sarcastically said—rolling his eyes in dissatisfaction.
"Wait! Were you the only one in your class to fail, again?"
Kirishima asked—mockingly.
"Hahahahaha!"
Monoma just laughed and turned around, before dramatically turning around and revealing the rest of class 1-B behind him.
"Every single one of us passed. The tables are turning class A."
He proudly declared with his fellow classmates also looking proud—except for Kendo, who looks ready to smack the shit out of Monoma.
"Seriously, do you ever shut up?"
Sam interrupted—annoyed by Monoma's grand standing.
Monoma just ignored Sam—still pissed about Sam's mean comments a while back.
"Sorry, guys."
Todoroki looked down—feeling guilty for failing.
"It's fine. This brat's just a loser who thinks the world revolves around him."
Sam replied to Todoroki's apology with straight poison directed at Monoma—causing the said individual to feel like he was shot in the heart.
Sam didn't even glimpse at Monoma—disgusted with the kid.
He noticed it back at the sports festival, but Monoma had a similar quirk to a certain someone from Africa.
Just thinking of the said individual brought anger and fear to Sam's mind.
He shook those thoughts out of his head—still trying to cope with his past haunting him in real life.
He saw Monoma pissed off again. But before he could respond, a blonde girl with big eyes and large horns on her head approached.
"Our teacher Vlad says we will have classes together this term. It will be much fun!"
She cheerfully said in broken Japanese.
'Huh. Another token foreigner.'
Sam could tell by her looks and her speech that she was foreign. From her accent, he could tell she was Texan.
"OHHH!! I'm so pumped up!"
Kirishima yelled in response.
"Oh? You're an exchange student aren't you? Kinda like Sam!"
Kaminari asked—blushing at the cute American girl.
"No. She's clearly American-born. I was born in Japan. Big difference."
Sam corrected.
He then saw Monoma whisper something to her.
After that she looked at them again and said something that shocked them all.
"I'll beat you up so badly you won't be able to get back up!"
She yelled with a kind smile on her face.
Kirishima and Kaminari gaped at that while Sam rolled his eyes.
"I would be careful about your words, miss. You basically told us you would kick our asses."
Sam said in English—something that everyone was caught off guard about.
Pony beamed in excitement.
"Ohh! I knew it! You're foreign like me!"
She responded in English.
"I am Japanese-American. I was born here, but I am fluent in English."
"Ohh! It's nice to meet you! I'm Pony Tsunotori!"
She said in English again—while sticking her hand out for a handshake.
Sam smiled a bit at the silly, but cute girl in front of him.
He would never admit it but he was too soft when it came to cute things.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Sam Suzuki."
He grasped her hand in a firm handshake—typical American greeting.
She beamed a big smile—Sam just sweat-dropped because she totally ignored his warning.
Everyone else also sweat-dropped—clearly not understanding much of what they were saying.
"Stop teaching her weird phrases!"
Kendo remembered that Monoma did something stupid again and disciplined him by poking him in the eye.
"Good to see how lame you guys still are."
A new voice interrupted, revealing itself to belong to Shinso—the boy with the Brainwashing quirk that got beat by Midoriya's bullshit luck.
"Shinso."
Tokoyami—noticing a fellow edgelord—greeted Shinso first.
"Shinso? Isn't he the guy that fought Midoriya at the sports festival?"
Jiro asked—familiar with the purple haired boy.
"Looks like you finally stopped wallowing in self-pity and started getting stronger."
Sam acknowledged—making Shinso feel a bit pissed off at the "self-pity" comment.
They all notice they were blocking the way to the training yard—the place where the opening ceremony would be held—and kept walking onward.
———
"Hello! It's your favorite mammalian principal!"
After settling in at the training yard—where class 1-A had their quirk assessment test on the first day—Nezu began speaking to all the students.
Sam looked around and noticed all the students, even the upperclassmen, were present.
Nezu started talking about his fur and Sam just cringed internally—not wanting anything to do with the deceptive little rat that fucking betrayed his trust.
Just thinking about that pissed him off. He might have understood why the faculty would make him do such a cruel final exam, but he wouldn't forgive it so easily.
He tuned out most of the little guy's speech regarding the dangers of interrupting hibernation, until he heard something that got his attention.
"And the biggest interruption to our lifestyles, as I'm sure you all know… was the incident that occurred over the summer. The loss of our pillar. Our society must prepare for the hardships yet to come. This applies especially to you in the hero course."
Nezu said—finally being serious.
"Including you second and third years working on work-studies. You must be more aware than ever of the threats out there."
Sam saw the little rat glance at him when he said that last part.
Sam winced at that—knowing that it was directed at him.
The mood was heavy, but Nezu lightened up and started talking again—this time with a more cheerful tone.
"Such gloomy talk makes us all heavy hearted, I know. Which is why the faculty will do their best to keep things from getting too dreary."
Sam rolled his eyes—not pleased with this sudden switch.
Sam understood the importance of morale and constantly being gloomy can lead to a poor morale. Poor morale leads to severe psychological consequences for soldiers. The same applies to teams.
But it was important to be honest. He was certain that the staff have downplayed the effects of All Mights retirement.
They just glazed over it in order to make the kids feel better.
Sam didn't like that. These kids were aiming to be heroes, which meant they had to be ready for the harshness of the world. If they can't keep it together from harsh truths, then they didn't have what it takes.
'Those idiots really think these brats need to be babied. If they were just average high schoolers, then it would be fine. But for aspiring heroes? Come on.'
Sam thought to himself.
After Nezu finished his speech, Vlad King walked up to the mic and introduced the next speaker.
"Now, a few words from our school life supervisor, Hound Dog sensei."
He moved aside to let a mutant man—with a muzzle on his face—walk up to the mic.
"Grrrrr...yesterday…..grrrrr…."
Suddenly he started barking out nonsense like a rabid dog.
"BARK BARK WOOF BARK UNACCUSTOMED WOOF WOOF DORM LIFE! AROO!"
He started barking and howling. For once, even Sam could only stare at this scene with shock.
Seeing the stupidity of the scene, Vlad moves him aside.
"Ahem. What he said was that we had a fight between two students last night. We understand that this is all new to you, but please control yourselves and make it easier for everyone."
Vlad said—or rather scolded Midoriya and Bakugo.
"They sure are treating Bakugo and Midoriya like naughty children."
Momo said.
"Can you blame them? They are the biggest trouble makers in the school… well, behind me of course."
Sam corrected—making the other students sweat drop at Sam's shamelessness.
After that, Vlad King dismissed everyone and instructed them to go back to their homeroom classrooms.
Under Iida's instruction, Sam and the others returned to their homeroom—making sure not to block the hallways again.
"All right, back to our regular schedule. A lot's happened, but now it's back to business as usual. We'll have a lecture today, but look forward to harsher training throughout the semester."
Aizawa ominously warned.
Before the lesson could begin, Tsu raised her hand.
"May I ask a question? Could you explain more about the work-studies?"
Sam raised an eyebrow at that. He recalled Nezu mentioning this in his stupid speech.
"I wasn't planning on talking about this until a later date… but I suppose it's fine to talk about it now."
Aizawa scratched his head.
"To put it simply, it's hero work outside of school. A more impressive version of the internships you already did."
Aizawa explained.
"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF TRYING SO HARD AT THE FESTIVAL?!?!?"
Uraraka yelled as she shot to her feet and raised her hand.
"Indeed! Surely this means that the festival was not our only chance to get scouted!"
Iida added with his chopping gestures.
"Calm down guys! Uraraka, stop acting un-Uraraka-like."
Sato interrupted.
Aizawa sighed.
"It's separate from our normal classes. Meaning that it's not essential for you to do it. If you don't want to or you don't get any recommendations, then you will continue classes as you normally do. This is just extra experience with other pro's."
Aizawa clearly explained.
"Keep in mind that there is practically no precedent for licensed first years. But with All Might retiring and the villains growing more and more, first year work-studies is being given careful consideration."
The students all accepted his answer.
"Now then, if there aren't any more questions, I'll leave the rest to you mic."
Aizawa concluded—making everyone wince at the coming earaches from the loud teacher.
"FIRST PERIOD ENGLISH!!! ITS BEEN A WHILE!!!"
Present mic slammed the door open and started screaming like usual.
'Fucking loudmouth.'
Sam thought as he buried his head in his arms.
———
"SORRY FOR ALL THE TROUBLE!"
Three days after the assembly, Midoriya was finally off of cleaning duty.
"Good job serving your time Deku!"
Uraraka cheered for Midoriya with a cute smile.
"Serving time? Why so worked up?"
Jiro asked both Uraraka, then Midoriya.
Midoriya then turned to Iida.
"IIDA!! IM SORRY!! I DISAPPOINTED YOU!!"
Midoriya yelled at the top of his lungs.
Everyone stared at Midoriya like he was a madman who lost his mind.
"Uhh… it's fine if you reflected. But what's wrong now?"
Iida gently asked.
"I MISSED THREE DAYS OF TIME AND I NEED TO MAKE UP FOR IT!!"
Midoriya admitted.
Sam sighed—annoyed by Midoriya's obnoxious yelling.
"Stop screaming, dude."
Sam asked—not hiding his irritation.
Midoriya put his hands on his mouth like he just spoke Voldemorts name.
"I'm sorry."
He meekly responded.
Sam just shook his head—finding it impossible to stay cross with the brat.
With that, everyone finally made their way to class.
"Now that Midoriya's back, let's talk about work studies for real."
Aizawa began.
As the students began feeling excited—even Sam, who was looking forward to spending more time with Rumi—Aizawa turned to the door.
"You can come in now."
The sound of the door opening brought everyone out of their thoughts.
They watched as three students—clearly upperclassmen—entered.
One, was a black haired emo kid with pointy elf ears.
The second was a hot chick with periwinkle hair.
The last and the one Sam could tell was the strongest, was a guy who looked like a grown-up version of Lucas from Mother 3.
Aizawa began to introduce them.
"Here to tell you about the work-studies and how they work, are some students who are experienced with work-studies and are taking time out of their day to talk with you, so give them your full attention. Out of all the students at UA, they are the top three reigning third-years. Or as we like to call them, the Big Three."
Sam narrowed his eyes at them. Just from one glance at their postures and mannerisms, he could tell these guys are probably stronger than many pro heroes.
'Interesting…'
Sam thought with a smirk—finding these so-called upperclassmen fascinating.