9 Team Buster

"ALRIGHT! FIRST PLACE!" Inasa Yoarashi said as he crossed the finish line less than a tenth of a second ahead of Shoto Todoroki.

"Actually, I finished half a minute ago," I said, looking up at the panting boys from my spot, lying down on the floor.

"Huh?!" A very refined response indeed.

"Oh, I see Momo and Setsuna are fast approaching," I muttered before turning to Present Mic and asking, "Say, how long do the others have before the three minute window for guaranteed entry is up?"

"That would be… twenty seconds, my first place listener."

"Eh, they'll make it."

And they did. Setsuna finished in fourth place with thirteen seconds to spare while Momo finished seven short seconds later.

"Damn, you guys look pretty worn out," I said, having picked myself up from the ground.

"Medic, Cure," I casted on Momo.

"Thanks Izuku, I appreciate it. I must have fallen no less than three times while trying to skate my way through that robot-filled maze of a cityscape. Without you clearing a path through the mines, I probably wouldn't have made it in time, too."

"What the hell? How'd you finish so quickly with a healing Quirk?" Setsuna asked.

"It's not just a healing Quirk. Also I can't cure exhaustion, otherwise I'd have already helped you, so don't even bother asking."

Just then, the rest of the competitors in our Group arrived within fifteen seconds of each other.

"HEY, I'M INASA YOARASHI AND I'D LIKE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE! HOPEFULLY, WE CAN BECOME GREAT FRIENDS BEFORE THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR," the tall boy said as he offered me a handshake.

He was very loud; very in my face. Yet somehow he wasn't hurling spittle everywhere like a drill sergeant.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya and uh… I guess it'd be alright if we hung out. Heh, with your Whirlwind and my elemental spells, we might just bring about the apocalypse if we teamed up," I said while shaking his hand.

"WE MUST WORK HARD TO BECOME THE VERY BEST!"

I almost choked when he didn't ask me how I knew about his Quirk.

From there, I just exchanged phone numbers with Inasa and Setsuna before leaving. Sadly, Inasa had distracted me long enough for Todoroki to leave without a word. Though, in a sense, I had also provided Inasa with distraction to not meet Todoroki and secured his enrollment as a student at U.A.

...

Pulse L'cie has created the chatroom "Team Buster."

Pulse L'cie: Ay Setsuna, you up?

Lizardy: Really dude? You're going to hit me with a "you up" text through a group chat?

Nejire-chan: She's right, Izukun. Everyone knows you're supposed to DM for that kind of thing.

Lizardy: Also, it's been, what? Two, maybe three hours since we said goodbye at U.A. The sun hasn't even started setting yet…

Nejire-chan: And what's with the name "Team Buster?" Are you trying to recruit us? Your name is also weird. Have I mentioned that yet?

Gale Force: Thanks for the invitation!

Lemillion: What even is this conversation? Why am I here?

Pulse L'cie: None of that matters right now. What's important is that we celebrate our acceptance into U.A, right?

Creati: If that were the case, why would you start the conversation by pretending like you were only talking to Tokage?

Pulse L'cie: Uh… I thought it'd be funny? The point is, the four of us passed, so we should get together and do something.

Gale Force: My schedule is completely free until Move-in Day.

Lizardy: Same.

Creati: Why don't we meet up in my house, then? While Sebastian cooks us a celebratory feast, we could get to know each other better. Oh! And talk about hero costumes, and plan out potential combo attacks, and… yeah…

Pulse L'cie: I'm good to go at any time.

Nejire-chan: I also finished all my work for the day.

Lemillion: Welp, guess I'm the only one who won't be able to make it. Sorry…

...

By four in the afternoon, all those who planned on attending our little get together had gathered around the massive dining room table in the Yaoyorozu estate.

"Damn, Izuku only warned me about you being rich; not loaded," Setsuna broke the ice.

"You get used to it," I said, smirking as I saw Momo pout.

"Maybe they shouldn't, seeing as I'll be moving into the dorms as well," Momo said.

"Why are you, of all people, moving into the dorms? Nezu made it a condition for me to live there if I passed the Recommendation Exams and both Setsuna and Inasa at least have the excuse of not living close by. But you? You could walk to school in ten minutes!"

"I want to live independent of my parent's support. I don't want everyone thinking I'm special or get special treatment because of my family's wealth."

"WHAT NOBLE ASPIRATIONS," Inasa said; shouted? Maybe that was just his standard speaking volume.

"Hoh? What was that about the principal making you live on campus?" Setsuna asked.

"I think Mirio mentioned it before that Izukun knows a lot of secrets. I think having him live on campus is a safety precaution U.A. is taking to lower the chances that he'll be targeted for the information he has," Nejire said.

"Ha! More like, U.A. wants to make sure I won't run mouth off to the wrong people. They also can't stand to lose my ridiculously overpowered Quirk… probably."

"About that, what even is your Quirk? I call mine Lizard Tail Splitter and you've already seen what it can do," Setsuna said.

"Yeah, your Quirk is rather overpowered," I said with a glint in my eyes. "You've got fragmentation, flight, and regenerative powers all wrapped in one Quirk."

"I can see what you meant when you said he knows a lot of secrets," Setsuna sighed.

"IF WE'RE DOING QUIRK INTRODUCTIONS, MINE IS CALLED WHIRLWIND AND IT LET'S ME CONTROL THE WIND," Inasa interjected. He raised his left hand and on it, a stable mini tornado formed.

"Mine's called Wave Motion and it lets me turn my vitality and stamina into energy I can shoot out of my body," Nejire said, picking up a fork and using a careful application of her Quirk to keep it afloat.

"My Quirk is called Creation, and it lets me materialize anything non-living so long as I know the chemical makeup of whatever it is I want to make; it runs on the fat in my body."

With all eyes landing on me, I shrugged and pulled up my shirt.

"Whoa dude, sick abs," Setsuna said, licking her lips.

"Yeah, ignore the massive crystal, why don't you? This is all just a ploy to seduce at least one of you," I snorted. Though, seeing all the girls turn away at the comment and only Inasa continue to stare unabashedly, I added, "Inasa… you aren't a target of my secret seduction techniques; I don't swing that way."

"NEITHER DO I, BUT THERE'S NO SHAME IN APPRECIATING A CAREFULLY BUILT BODY; REGARDLESS OF GENDER."

"Anyways… My Quirk is this Crystal Heart sticking to my chest. It along with the tattoo-like brands affixed across my body let me use magical energy to do… well, a lot of things actually."

"Yeah, when he glows yellow, he can take a mean punch. Even bullets just bounce off him," Nejire commented.

"Now that I think about it, I think you were glowing green when you healed the cuts and scrapes on Momo after the race," Setsuna added.

"When he glows red, he can literally conjure weapons out of thin air, and when he's blue, he can teleport all over the place," Momo said whilst shaking her head.

"DIDN'T YOU MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT SPELLS, TOO?"

"Right, all these forms or whatever you want to call them, I call Paradigms. But to keep things simple, when I glow blue, you can expect to see offensive elemental spells. When I glow purple, I can cast buffing spells on people I want to help, and when I glow grey, I can cast debuffing spells on anyone who's against me."

"Damn, dude, and here I thought I had a versatile Quirk. It must be a nightmare for you to decide where you want to specialize," Setsuna said.

"Not really, I already decided I want to become a support hero."

"WHAT?!" For once Inasa was joined in his shouting as everyone reacted as if I had just declared war on heroes.

"Please tell me that was just a tasteless joke," Setsuna said.

"Seriously, Izukun, that wasn't funny. I've seen you and Mirio fight and as you are now, you could give many rookie assault heroes a run for their money." Nejire frowned.

"DIDN'T WE PROMISE TO BECOME THE VERY BEST HEROES?!"

"Well… I guess it wouldn't be so outlandish, considering your healing and support spells." I shot Momo a look. She actually defended me?

Wow

"Exactly! Momo, it warms my heart to see that you get it," a single fake tear rolled down the side of my face. "Why should I work myself to death just because I have an awesome Quirk? I don't want to be like All Might and Endeavor who spent most of their time either working or sleeping."

"Er… that's not what I meant, but I see your point," Momo admitted.

"BUT MIDORIYA, DON'T YOU WANT TO USE YOUR QUIRK TO STOP BAD GUYS? WITH YOUR SPEED YOU COULD STOP SO MANY CRIMES SINGLE-HANDEDLY."

"Yeah, I could. But in any major city, there will like a hundred other heroes that could do the same; especially if I buff them before they go handle any problem. To tell you guys the truth, I'm not trying to be a hero for the fame or money; I just want the license."

For a time, everyone just stared at me with unsure looks, until Setsuna asked, "Well, if you're going to be a support hero… Will you be going for a purely cosmetic costume like me? If you have support spells, I can't imagine you'll need to be carrying around the basic equipment all support heroes have like first aid kits."

"Right… You're going for that whole scaly bodysuit, right? I, myself, will dress up like a certain Lucian King."

"How'd you… never mind," Setsuna sighed.

"What about you, Inasa?" I asked.

"I PLANNED OUT MY COSTUME, LONG AGO. IT WILL CONSIST OF A BURGUNDY SUIT, UNDER WHICH I WILL BE WEARING AN INSULATING WETSUIT, AND VARIOUS JET PROPULSION SYSTEMS WILL BE IN PLACE TO GRANT ME FLIGHT AND INCREASED MANEUVERABILITY."

"Hmm… Only Momo's costume will have to change," I said while eying Momo's reaction.

"What? Why?! I haven't even described it!" As expected, she didn't like that.

"Tell me Momo, have you considered the cons of your Quirk? How you'll be needing to expose a lot of skin if you don't want your Quirk ruining parts of your costume over and over again?"

"Of course I have! That… That's why—"

"That's why you were thinking of wearing something revealing, weren't you."

"It just can't be helped with my Quirk!"

"Really?" I chuckled and turned to address Nejire, "Say, why don't you tell her about Mirio's Quirk and how it requires a special costume? I'm sure it would save her a lot of embarrassment."

"Well, Mirio's Permeation Quirk makes him intangible upon activation, so before he got his special costume, his clothes would just slip off him every time he used it. But then, the Support Department took his DNA and made a costume with it somehow and now he can activate his Quirk without flashing civilians every time he goes to his work-study."

"You think that would work for me? Surely the dynamics of our Quirks are vastly different," Momo said, but I could hear a bit of hope in her tone.

"It wouldn't hurt to try and ask."