Chapter 3: 1-A/B Dorms

Chapter 3: 1-A/B Dorms

...

Before I knew it, I was already at U.A. My aunt and I drove from Saitama to Musutafu, arriving on campus at 7 a.m.

Since students only had April 6th and 7th to move into the dorms and settle in before classes started on Monday the 8th, we decided to go on the first day to avoid the frenzy that would probably happen on the last available move-in day.

As soon as my aunt parked the car, I got out with her and took in the sight of U.A.'s entrance with a rush of excitement.

U.A. The actual hero university, and me, Denki Kaminari, I'm walking through the main gate.

It's so surreal! I went from being the kid who couldn't control his Quirk to being a student at the prestigious university that could change my future for the better.

I could actually be a hero, like All Might! Okay, maybe not a big-time hero. I'm not here to become one of the top heroes, just someone who can help out a bit in the world… and maybe meet some beautiful women along the way. Oh, who am I fooling, I'm mainly for the last one.

All I'd need to do is figure out how to catch their attention, and with a Quirk like mine, that shouldn't be too hard to stay in the spotlight.

Electricity power really stands out… unfortunately, especially when I accidentally shock people.

Yeah, that's something that definitely has to stop if I want a future surrounded by beautiful women.

I grabbed my student ID for the Hero Department – Class 1-A, which was all I needed to enter U.A.'s campus.

I'd also packed most of my things from my aunt's place, and now she and I were pushing two large carts across the campus.

...

Once inside, we walked over to U.A.'s dorms. U.A.'s campus was huge, big enough that it could almost be mistaken for a small city.

As we walked around and looked at our surroundings, my aunt took the opportunity to tease me and play the "mom figure"...

That meant she wouldn't stop joking and trying to embarrass me by telling me all the things I shouldn't do and the things I should be careful about, now that she wouldn't be around. Which was pretty funny, actually, because I've pretty much been taking care of myself since I was nine… well, except for the financial part—she's always handled that.

Still, I knew she was just trying to get under my skin, so I didn't let her. I just nodded along to everything she was saying while letting my thoughts drift to the dorms, already planning how I'd set up my room.

According to the brochure with detailed floor plans for the dorm rooms (a brochure they only gave me after I confirmed I'd be living on campus), I knew the accommodations were pretty basic, though decent. At least I wouldn't have to share a room, so I'd have my privacy, but it was a different story with the bathrooms, which were shared. There were only two large bathrooms—one for girls and one for guys.

Each year of the Hero Course at U.A. has its own residence, where the dorms for that year's students are located, and it's the same building for both Class A and Class B students. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean boys and girls are together; inside each residence, there's a separate area for each gender. Such a shame. I'd hoped at least the bathrooms might be co-ed. I guess that only happens in movies.

Anyway… while I'd rather live in my own apartment, this wasn't so bad. I'd save money, get to know people, and, since we'd all be in the same building, I could even interact more with the ladies. Yeah, it's a win-win-win.

...

The walk from U.A.'s main gate to the Class 1-A dorms was longer than I expected.

And my aunt was getting more and more creative in embarrassing me.

But as annoying as she could be, I was glad to have her by my side today. Unlike my dad, who, ever since I was born and then developed my Quirk (which I couldn't control like he could), saw me as a disappointment.

'Hmm, I wonder what my dad would think if he knew his disappointing son had actually managed to get into the most prestigious hero school in the East...?'

'...Who am I kidding… I know for a fact that my… dad wouldn't care. Even if he knew all that… he probably wouldn't think I have any chance of actually becoming a good pro hero, even at U.A.' I sighed, shaking off the bitter thoughts as the modern building of the student residence came into view.

The sign above the door read "1-A/B Dorms." My home for the next three years… I smiled as I took in the impressive place, already imagining the memories I'd make there. I pushed my cart up to the doors and wedged a rock under one wheel as a makeshift brake.

Since my aunt couldn't come in with me because it was students-only from here, I finally said goodbye to her.

She hugged me tightly and made one last joke before heading out.

...

Only after she left did I turn back to the door, take a deep breath, and open it. I grabbed the first of my boxes off one of the carts. I let out a long, satisfied sigh, admiring the beautiful lobby and the view of the courtyard in the center of the building. I took another step, turned down a hall, and entered the common area.

Then I heard explosions… loud, repeated explosions that shook me to my core with how close they sounded.

"Hah? The hell did you just say, you two-bit extra!? A loser like you thinks can tell me what to do!?"

I heard a rough voice yell angrily. I looked around and saw a furious guy with short, spiky, sandy-blonde hair and bright red eyes. He was one of the guys from the entrance exam—the angry-looking one with the explosive hands. He looked mad, but from what I'd seen of him, he always seemed mad.

'But who's he yelling at?' I looked around and spotted a taller guy with glasses, blue hair, and weird-shaped eyebrows. He was the one with the motorized legs, right? He looked kind of uptight, but he seemed smart, at least. If I talked to him, maybe his intelligence would rub off on me and help me pass the more academic stuff…

"You need to behave appropriately on U.A. grounds," the smart blue-haired guy said, not backing down.

"Why the hell should I care about that, you four-eyed extra!?" the furious blonde shot him a killer glare, his red eyes practically blazing with fury.

"Why don't you mind your own damn business," he sneered at the guy, who looked even more agitated, while I stood there staring at them.

I squinted. This guy is pretty intimidating.

"Huh? What happened between those two?" I wondered out loud, watching the argument between them with a bit of curiosity, not sure if I should get involved.

I realized I'd been staring at them for longer than usual, so I quickly shifted my gaze to what I assumed was the elevator that would take me up to the boys' dorms on the third floor, unlike the girls' dorms on the second floor.

Well, guess I better stay out of this for now.

But before I could go about my business, the guy with glasses saw me and stopped arguing with the angry red-eyed guy to run over to me for some reason.

"..."

"Hello, I'm Tenya Iida from Soumei High School, now in Class 1-A" he said, introducing himself in an extremely formal way, a little too formal for my taste.

"Oh, uh… I'm Denki Kaminari, Class 1-A too. Nice to meet you, Iida…" I said with a smile, still a bit uncomfortable as I split my focus between him and the explosive guy who kept yelling, furious.

But it seemed like he got tired of yelling or something because he just gave us one last annoyed look, stuffed his hands in his pockets with a "tch," and said loudly, "Whatever, extras. I'm outta here"

"..."

I finally relaxed as the angry blonde walked away, then turned my focus to Iida and gave him a lighthearted smile.

"First day, and you already have an enemy? Tough luck, dude" I joked, rubbing the back of my neck to ease the tense atmosphere.

Iida let out a sigh.

"It's concerning. Even when I introduced myself, he didn't have the courtesy to do the same. But that's not the worst… If he keeps disrespecting U.A. rules, I'll have no choice but to report it to the teachers or faculty" he said, like this was the most serious and important thing in the world.

"Ummm, yeah, ure... I guess you're right" I didn't really know what else to say, so I just nodded with a nervous chuckle, as if I agreed, though I honestly had no idea what the hell he was talking about, and I wasn't that interested in finding out either. At this point, I just hoped that angry guy wouldn't be in my class, though it seemed like Iida didn't know for sure either.

"So, since we're some of the first from Class 1-A to move into the dorms, would you like to meet in my room around six tonight? I think then we can go over a few things at an optimal time of day. Would that work for you, Kaminari?" he said, gesturing at me a little stiffly.

"Uh, sure?" I replied, looking at him. I really had no idea what kind of things he wanted to discuss, but it wasn't like I had anything else to do… so why not?

'Oh, is that food I smell? I'm starving.' I let my thoughts drift away from the current conversation to different kinds of food I wanted to eat right now.

'A burger would be great...' I thought, practically tasting it already, my mouth watering at the thought. But my food daydreams quickly ended when I saw the questioning look the uptight guy in front of me was giving me…

Yeah, I probably looked pretty dumb just standing there, staring at him, with my mouth watering thinking about food.

"Alright, then, I'll see you at six, Kaminari. Have a good day" he said, heading toward the elevator and walking away with a slightly robotic gait. When the elevator doors closed, he was gone, and I was left standing there. Looked like I was on my own.

I sighed and patted myself lightly.

"Nice work, Denki. You managed to say a grand total of just a few words, and he probably already thinks you're an idiot. Way to be the idiot, as always, and on top of it with the first person you meet from Class 1-A." I said, exasperated.

I quickly stopped thinking about that and focused on bringing all my boxes inside, getting to my room, and setting everything up just right. It had to look awesome!

...

The next few hours passed while I unpacked and organized everything… Obviously, I grabbed food in the process.

I focused on setting up my desk, my computer, and my guitars. I unpacked my laptop and set it on the desk while I used the guitars to decorate the area around it.

I tried to make everything look as stylish and cool as possible. Once I finished most of it, I inspected my dorm.

It was perfect—or at least perfect to my taste. Sure, there were still boxes lying around, and it wasn't super tidy, but I liked what I'd managed to do with the place. Plus, the room was pretty spacious and even had a walk-in closet, so I could leave some boxes there and even have room for lots of other stuff I'd want to add later without worrying about space.

I couldn't help but smile, feeling really satisfied with it all. And finally, when I noticed it was getting close to 6 p.m., I got ready to meet Iida. Seeing how rigid he was, it was probably best if I didn't show up late.