Nemuri Kayama, also known as the hero Midnight, stood in front of what had once been the main security gate of UA Academy. Now it was basically dust. The frame was twisted as if some massive force had crushed it from the center.
"Shit," Nemuri muttered while crouching down to examine the debris more closely. "This definitely was not caused by reporters."
"An astute observation, Kayama san," a high pitched and polite voice said from behind her.
Nemuri straightened up and turned to find Principal Nezu approaching on his small paws. The UA principal was a peculiar creature who looked like a bear, or a rat, or a dog, or some confusing combination of the three.
"Principal," Nemuri greeted him with a tone more serious than usual. "What do you make of this?"
Nezu approached the remains of the gate. He tilted his head to the side, studying the patterns of destruction.
"Interesting," he finally murmured. "Very interesting."
"Interesting in the sense of how curious or interesting in the sense of we are all screwed?" Nemuri asked bluntly.
Nezu looked at her with calculating eyes.
"Probably both, Kayama san."
The principal knelt closer to the destroyed metal. He pulled a small device from his pocket and began scanning the remains.
"This disintegration pattern is consistent with a Quirk involving decomposition or molecular decay," he explained while the device emitted small beeps. "Someone touched this gate and turned it into dust."
Nemuri felt a chill run down her spine.
"Do you know any villain with that kind of Quirk?"
"I know rumors," Nezu answered carefully. "Whispers in the criminal underworld about someone with the ability to disintegrate anything they touch. But never anything confirmed until now."
Nemuri crossed her arms and her expression became more severe.
"Do you think it was a message? A warning?"
"Or a scouting mission," Nezu straightened up, putting his device away. "Someone wanted to see our defenses. And now they know exactly how vulnerable we are."
The principal walked slowly around the perimeter of the destroyed gate.
"We will increase security immediately," he declared decisively. "And let us keep this quiet for now. We do not want to alarm the students unnecessarily."
"And the teachers?"
"We will inform everyone during the next staff meeting," Nezu nodded. "But for now, I need you to closely supervise the first year students. Especially during any off campus activities."
Nemuri frowned.
"Do you think the students are in danger?"
"I think," Nezu said slowly, choosing his words with care, "that whoever did this was not interested in destroying a gate. They were interested in testing if they could get in. And if they can get in..."
He left the sentence unfinished. Nemuri understood the implication perfectly.
"I will keep my eyes open," she promised.
"Excellent. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to make some very unpleasant calls to the Public Safety Commission."
Nezu walked away, leaving Nemuri alone in front of the remains of the security gate. She looked once more at the pulverized metal and felt that familiar tingling instinct she always had before something bad happened.
Trouble, she thought. Big trouble is coming.
******
Meanwhile, in Class 1A, the problems of the students were considerably more mundane but equally important to them.
Aizawa Shouta stood in front of the class. He had pronounced dark circles under his eyes, his capture scarf hung messily around his neck, and his general posture screamed I do not get paid enough for this.
"Alright," he said with his characteristic monotonous voice. "Since you already voted democratically, we have new class leaders. Hayashi Ren will be your delegate and Yaoyorozu Momo will be the deputy delegate."
There was a moment of silence while the class processed this information. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, Mina exploded.
"Great!" she shouted with genuine enthusiasm, jumping in her seat. "Hayashi kun is going to be our leader!"
"Congratulations, Hayashi!" Kirishima shouted from his seat, raising his fist in a manly gesture of support. "You are going to be a super manly delegate!"
"Kero kero," Tsuyu nodded with approval. "I think you will do a good job, Hayashi kun."
Hagakure clapped from her invisible seat, producing a peculiar sound of hands hitting the air with no visible body.
"I knew you would win! Congratulations!"
Even Inko, normally reserved, smiled broadly and nodded in Rens direction.
"Congratulations, Hayashi kun," she said sincerely.
Ren, for his part, sank slightly into his seat. He was excited about the position; however...
Crap, he thought. This is going to seriously cut into my time spying on girls with Xray vision.
"AND YAOYOROZU SAN TOO!" Mina continued shouting. "Our deputy delegate! You are going to be the best leadership team in the history of UA!"
Momo, sitting rigidly in her seat, inclined her head with practiced grace. She had already resigned herself before lunch to being the class deputy delegate.
"ALRIGHT, THAT IS ENOUGH!" Bakugo roared from his seat, slamming his desk with the palm of his hand. "THAT BALDY DOES NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE DELEGATE! IT SHOULD BE ME!"
"Nobody voted for you, Bakugo," Jiro pointed out dryly.
"BECAUSE EVERYONE IS AN IDIOT!"
Aizawa cleared his throat, and the sound was enough to cut all the noise instantly.
"Are you finished with your celebration?" he asked in a dry tone. "Because I have more important things to do than listen to you scream like monkeys in a zoo."
"Y-yes, sensei," several students muttered simultaneously.
"Good. Hayashi, Yaoyorozu, you may return to your seats."
Ren had not realized he had stood up instinctively when Mina started shouting. He plopped back down in his chair. Momo did the same with considerably more grace.
Aizawa looked at both of them.
"As delegates, you are responsible for maintaining order when I am not present. Organizing the class for activities. Being the bridge of communication between the teachers and your classmates. And most importantly," his gaze became more intense, "keeping these idiots alive."
"Understood, sensei," Momo responded with formality.
"Yes, sensei," Ren added with enthusiasm.
"Good. Now, moving on to other matters..."
Aizawa turned to the blackboard and wrote something with chalk: SPECIAL TRAINING.
"Today you will have a special training session outside of UA," he announced without turning to look at them. "So you will need your hero costumes. The specific details of the activity will be explained when we arrive at the location."
Immediately, the energy in the class changed. The students straightened up in their seats. There were excited murmurs. Even Bakugo stopped grumbling and paid attention.
"Are we going to fight real villains?" Kaminari asked with bright eyes.
"Do not be an idiot," Sero hit him on the shoulder. "It is probably just rescue training or something like that."
"I wonder if there will be difficult obstacles!" Mina was practically bouncing in her seat.
Aizawa turned to look at the class with his deadest expression.
"Go get changed. You have ten minutes. Anyone who is late stays behind."
He did not need to repeat it twice. The class practically jumped out of their seats and ran toward the locker rooms.
*****
The UA locker rooms were considerably more luxurious than those of any normal school. Spacious. Clean. With individual lockers personalized for each student and their respective hero costumes.
Ren entered the boys locker room along with Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, Tokoyami, and the other boys. The atmosphere was chaotic but friendly. Laughter. Jokes. The metallic sound of lockers opening and closing.
"Man, I am so excited!" Kirishima exclaimed while opening his locker and taking out his hero costume. "Finally we are going to do something interesting!"
"More interesting than Present Mics grammar classes, at least," Kaminari murmured while taking off his school shirt.
Ren opened his own locker and looked at his hero costume. Red gloves that reached his elbows, a full body suit in bright yellow, and a white cape that, honestly, made him look like an anthropomorphic hard boiled egg.
Well, at least I look flashy, he thought while he began to change. I guess Saitama got used to his suit over time.
He put on the suit quickly.
"Hayashi kun, you look like a giant egg yolk," Mineta commented from his locker.
"And you look like a grape with a diaper," Ren responded without missing a beat.
Several boys let out laughs. Mineta frowned but said nothing more.
Now comes the fun part, Ren thought as he adjusted his cape and left the male locker room complex.
He activated his Xray vision in the direction of the girls locker room.
The world changed instantly. The walls became translucent. He could see through the concrete, the metal, and the lockers. And on the other side, in the female locker room...
Oh, great...
Inko was facing away from him, taking off her school uniform. Her skin was pale and smooth. When she leaned over to put her skirt in the locker, her backside moved in a way that made Rens brain short circuit momentarily.
I cannot believe that in this world Inko is a sexy teenager, he thought while letting out an involuntary sigh of satisfaction. The universe is definitely strange.
Inko turned slightly, and Ren could see the profile of her large and perfectly formed breasts as she reached for her hero costume. Her flat stomach. The curve of her waist. The toned legs of someone who trained regularly.
Shit. SHIT.
His attention shifted toward another movement. Tsuyu Asui was changing in a corner of the locker room. Her body was athletic in a way that was different from Inko but no less sexy. But what really captured Rens attention again was the movement of her hips when she leaned over to put on her suit.
Dammit, he thought while swallowing hard. Those hips should be illegal.
Tsuyu stretched, arching her back in a way that made her backside stand out even more. Then she put on her tight suit with practical movements.
Ren tried to look for Momo among the group of girls changing, but there were too many bodies moving and too many walls at complicated angles. He could not find her.
Where is she? he wondered while moving his head slightly, trying to adjust the angle of his Xray vision.
"Hayashi kun?"
Ren almost jumped out of his skin. He instantly deactivated his Xray vision and turned to find Momo standing directly behind him.
She was already completely dressed in her hero costume: a red design that left a considerable amount of skin exposed by necessity of her Quirk.
"Y-Yaoyorozu san," Ren stammered, feeling like a criminal caught in the act. "I did not hear you arrive."
"You were very focused on... something," Momo looked at her with curiosity. "Are you okay? You looked a bit... dazed."
"Perfectly fine," Ren recovered quickly. "I was just mentally preparing myself for the training."
Momo nodded, apparently buying the excuse.
"Good. We need to organize the class so they board the bus in an orderly fashion. As delegate and deputy delegate, it is our responsibility."
Crap. The boring part of the job has already started.
But when Ren really looked at Momo, he could not help but genuinely appreciate how well her suit fit her. The red contrasted perfectly with her fair skin. The design, while revealing, made practical sense for her Quirk. And the way she held herself with perfect and confident posture...
"You look very good, Yaoyorozu san," Ren said with sincerity.
Momo blinked, clearly not expecting the compliment. A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks.
"I... thank you, Hayashi kun. You also look... um... unique."
"Unique in a good way or in the sense that I look like an egg?"
Momo let out a small laugh, a genuine smile replacing her formal expression.
"Unique in the sense that definitely nobody else in the class looks like you."
They proceeded to walk together toward where the rest of the class was gathering outside the locker rooms. The hallway was full of students in their hero costumes, all looking excited and nervous in different proportions.
Kirishima looked intimidating with his black suit and red details, his shark tooth smile shining with enthusiasm. Bakugo looked aggressive with his orange and black suit, the grenades on his arms shining threateningly. Ochako looked adorable in her pink and black suit. Inko looked determined in her green suit.
"EVERYONE LISTEN!" Momo raised her voice with natural authority.
The class gradually fell silent, everyone turning to look at Momo. She stood with perfect posture, her hands behind her back.
"As your deputy delegate, I need you to form an orderly line to board the bus. No pushing. No shouting. We represent Class 1A and we must act with professionalism."
"Yes, deputy delegate Yaoyorozu!" Iida shouted with enthusiasm, moving his arms in his characteristic robotic gesture.
Ren stood next to Momo, looking at his classmates.
"And if anyone causes trouble," he added in a casual tone, "I will lift you telekinetically and put you at the end of the line. Upside down."
There were nervous laughs. Nobody was completely sure if Ren was capable of that or not.
"That would be so unmanly!" Kirishima protested.
"But effective," Ren smiled.
The class began to form a relatively orderly line. Some students like Iida took the organization with serious intensity. Others like Kaminari and Mineta tried to sneak ahead and had to be relocated.
Bakugo, predictably, tried to push his way to the front.
"Get out of my way, extras!"
"Bakugo kun," Momo said with a firm voice. "Please maintain order."
"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO, PONYTAIL GIRL!"
Ren sighed. He extended his hand casually and used telekinesis to gently push Bakugo back into the line. Just strong enough to physically move him ten feet back.
"WHAT THE HELL, BALDY?!"
"Maintaining order," Ren responded with fake innocence. "It is my job as delegate."
Kirishima let out a laugh. Even some other students smiled. Bakugo looked as if he wanted to explode something, but Aizawa appeared at that exact moment and his mere presence was enough to make everyone behave.
"Fine," the teacher grunted. "Board the bus. Now."
The class obeyed quickly. The bus was spacious, designed specifically to transport students in hero costumes. The seats were arranged in two parallel rows on the sides, leaving the center open.
Just as everyone began to look for their places, a sensual and fun voice resonated from the bus entrance.
"Wait a moment, my little heroes in training!"
Everyone turned simultaneously.
Nemuri Kayama, Midnight, was standing at the bus entrance in a pose that could only be described as designed to call attention. One hand on her hip, the other resting on the door frame. Her tight hero costume emphasized every curve of her voluptuous body.
"Midnight sensei," Momo greeted with respect, although there was some tension in her posture.
"Hello, Yaoyorozu chan," Midnight smiled with her characteristic mischievous expression. "Principal Nezu asked me to accompany you on your little excursion today. You know, extra supervision and all that."
Mineta practically melted in his seat. His face turned red as a tomato and he began to literally drool.
"M-M-Midnight sensei is going to travel with us," he whispered with a strangled voice. "This is... this is paradise..."
"Mineta, control yourself," Tsuyu said in her usual neutral tone.
"I CANNOT! SHE IS TOO BEAUTIFUL!"
Midnight laughed, clearly used to and amused by these kinds of reactions.
"How cute you are, Mineta kun. But try to keep the saliva inside your mouth, okay?"
She took a step inside the bus, her heels clicking against the metal floor. Her eyes scanned the available seats.
"Oh," Midnights eyes sparkled with amusement. "It seems there is a perfect seat right here."
She walked directly toward Ren with deliberately sensual movements. She sat next to him with grace, crossing her legs in a way that made her suit tighten even more.
"I hope you do not mind sharing a seat with your teacher, Hayashi kun," she said with a smile that definitely had a playful touch.
Ren, to his credit, maintained his composure. Although internally he was having a minor existential crisis.
"Not at all, sensei," Ren responded with a controlled voice. "It is an honor."
"How polite," Midnight leaned slightly closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that only he could hear. "Although I have heard interesting things about you, Hayashi kun. The new student with telekinesis. Five votes for delegate in your first week. Quite impressive."
"I just got lucky, sensei."
"Luck is just preparation meeting opportunity," Midnight leaned back in her seat, still smiling. "And something tells me you are very good at preparing."
Ren was not completely sure if that had a double meaning or if he was just being paranoid.
From across the aisle, Momo watched the interaction with an expression that was hard to read. Inko, sitting next to her, looked out the window with slightly flushed cheeks.
"THIS IS SO UNFAIR," Mineta groaned dramatically. "WHY DOES THE BALDY HAVE ALL THE LUCK?"
"Because life is cruel, Mineta," Kaminari patted his shoulder with fake solemnity.
Kirishima, sitting in front of Ren, gave him a look of respect.
"Bro," he whispered. "You are sitting next to Midnight sensei. That is so... so..."
"Uncomfortable?" Ren suggested.
"I was going to say manly, but yeah, probably uncomfortable too."
The bus finally started moving. Aizawa was at the front next to the driver, probably pretending to sleep but actually paying attention to everything.
Midnight settled into her seat naturally, apparently very comfortable with the whole situation.
"So," Midnight said casually, but loud enough for several nearby students to hear, "does anyone want to bet on what kind of training we will do today?"
"Do you know where we are going, sensei?" Ochako asked from her seat.
"Of course," Midnight winked. "But it would not be fun to ruin the surprise, would it?"
"Is it something dangerous?" Tsuyu asked pragmatically.
"Everything at UA is a bit dangerous, Asui chan. But do not worry, you will be in good hands. Besides," she looked at Ren with a mischievous smile, "you have a delegate who can move things with his mind. That should be useful in case of an emergency."
"I will do my best, sensei," Ren responded diplomatically.
*****
Author's Note:
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Power Stone Challenge!
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