Chapter 37: Back To School

{Jōichirō POV}

'Ah... back to school... and then there would be the finals too.' Thinking like that, I entered my class and sat down at my table.

Looking around I spotted no one present, so I looked at my watch and saw that it's way too early to be here. 'Well, let's go for a walk around the campus and I'll return on time.'

Deciding so, I left my class while leaving my bag at my seat.

I went around the campus in leisure while taking in everything that is there to observe.

"Man, I don't know if anyone can see all of the campus in a day." I said out loud without thinking.

As I was walking around, I reached the staff room and when I looked inside, I saw All Might in his skinny form. So I decided to mess with him a bit.

Knocking on the door I said, "Excuse me, may I come in?"

Surprised, All Might looked at me, and he nervously said "Yes, you can."

"Thank you." Smiling, I went straight towards him and asked "Have you seen All Might?"

"No." Skinny Might replied and asked me "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing really, I just wanted to know what drove him to be the symbol of peace." I seriously said, and I myself was thinking 'Why do I have to know that in the first place.'

"I'll convey this to All Might." Skinny Might said.

"I would appreciate that, Mr.?"

"Toshinori Yagi."

"Alright, thanks Mr. Yagi." As I turned around saying that, I saw Aizawa and Eri entering the staff room.

Seeing me inside the staff room, Aizawa asked me "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much. I noted that I was early, so I decided to explore the campus." I told him with a smile.

"Get back to class, classes are about to start." He told me with some finality.

I nodded at him and smiled at Eri and said "Bye Eri-chan, I'll see you this weekend."

Bobbing her head up and down she said "Bye bye Jojo."

I paused there and asked her, "My name is Jōichirō, Eri."

"It's Jojo." Eri was adamant on not changing my nickname given by her.

Sighing, I told her while giving the most Jojo expression I could give "Sure, I'll be Jojo for you."

"Hehehehehe you're funny!" Eri said with giggles as she found my face funny.

I shrugged it off and went away from the staff room back to the class as I didn't want Aizawa going ballistic on me for not going to class and instead wandering around the campus.

As I was walking towards my class, I saw a pink haired girl trying to pick up something from the ground without any results.

Chuckling at that sight I went towards her and said "Need a hand Mei?"

She looked at me through her goggles and smiled as she recognized me and said "I do. Thanks Jōichirō."

"You're welcome." Saying that I picked up the thing from the ground, and boy was it heavy for a normal person. Picking it up, I asked her "New babies of yours?"

"Yes! These are the new ones I created. They are actually weights that can increase as per the person's desire, well this is a prototype and I need to make it more efficient..... " She went on and on about what types of new things she had made in the workshop with the Power Loader.

Reaching the workshop, she showed her if to the scanner and the door opened " There loads of stuff made by the support course students and Power Loader in his free time." Mei told me by showing the things that were just laying around in the workshop.

Then looking at me she said "Thanks Jōichirō for your help. Tell me if you need anything, I will prioritize it."

"I appreciate it. Now, I'll take my leave. Bye for now." Bidding her goodbye, I went back to my class.

As I reached the class I heard "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. FOR REAL!!? NO, BUT FOR REAL, BAKUGOU!!?"

'That's Sero and Kirishima roasting Bakugo.' I opened the door and went towards my seat, "DON'T LAUGH! IT'S STUCK AND WASHING AIN'T FIXING IT! YO. DON'T LAUGH. I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"GO AHEAD AND TRY IT, AMAZING 8:2 HAIR LAD!! AHHHH НАНАНАНА!!!" Sero and Kirishima said that to anger Bakugo more and it worked as his hair returned to what it was before.

Looking at Bakugo I said "Now, it's back."

Bakugo looked at me with a scowl and sat down in his seat. I also went to my seat, and on the way I heard my classmates talking to themselves about their internship experience.

Momo looked like she had lost her soul. So tapping on her shoulder I asked "Everything alright with you?"

She looked at me and asked "You didn't see it?"

"What is there to see?" I was confused.

The question was answered by Denki "Wahhh. You didn't see? She and Kendo from Class B acted in an advertisement with Uwabami."

"Really?" I asked her.

"Yeah... " She trailed off and I understood that she didn't want to talk about it. I didn't push on.

When I looked around, I saw Iida, Midoriya and Shoto at Shoto's seat. So looking at the three I asked "Are you three alright after the incident?"

"DUDE, YEAH, THE HERO KILLER!!" Sero said.

Hearing that, Momo looked at Shoto and the other two and said "I was worried for you."

"So happy you're alive; no joke, that's the most important thing!" Momo said, looking at the three.

"They say you got rescued by Endeavor and Nova! That's the no. 2 heroes and his sidekick for you!" Kirishima chimed in.

Shoto just nodded at Kirishima affirming that he was right.

"I saw it on the news: something about the hero killer and the league of villains being connected? I shiver just thinking of how USJ would have played out had such a terrifying bastard come on the ambush, too." Ojiro said while trembling a little bit.

"Well, Saiba would have folded him on the spot as he did with the Nomu." Kirishima said while looking at me.

All of them looked at me and I said "Sure I'm stronger than him, but I'm sure that Shoto, Fumikage and Bakugo can take him out pretty easily."

"Right, he was pretty scary, but did you watch the video, Ojiro?

I dunno if it was his single-track mind or tenacity or whatever, but didn't you think he was kinda cool, too?" Denki unintentionally changed the subject, but he went straight to the landmine.

"KAMINARI!" Midoriya shouted at him and Denki realized what he said while looking at Iida and said "Huh? Ahh!... Ii...da... i'm sorry"

Looking at his watch Iida said "No... it's alright.

he was certainly a man of conviction... so I understand if people find him "cool". However, he chose to advance his cause by means of a "purge." And whatever beliefs you may hold, that and that alone is in error."

Then looking at everyone in the class he continued "And so, in order, too, that people like me may not hereafter multiply!! I shall proceed down the path toward being a hero anew!!! Now class is almost upon us, so take your seats!!"

"So noisy." Fumikage said in a low voice.

"Aww man.... I'm really sorry." Denki apologized for his error again.

As all of us were seated, Fumikage asked me "How was your internship?"

"It was fruitful." I replied to him with a smile and the bell rang. As if on cue, Aizawa came in and greeted us "Morning"

""Morning"" We all greeted him back.

After that he just took the class and went on to his routine, and that's sleeping whenever he can.

The other teachers also took their respective subjects, with Present Mic being the loudest in the class as usual.

When afternoon came, it was our basic hero studies section, so we changed into our hero suits and went towards the area designated for us by the teacher on a bus, because the compound of U.A is so large that we need a bus to travel from one place to another.

"HI FOR I'M HERE!

IS THE NOTE I USUALLY DO THINGS ON, BUT RIGHT, ONTO FOUNDATIONAL HERO STUDY TIME!

IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BOYS AND GIRLS! IN GOOD SPIRITS, I HOPE!?" All Might said with his usual boisterous voice.

"That was a really lukewarm entry." Kyouka commented.

"After so long, too." Asui said.

"Oh my, he must have exhausted all the possible patterns." Kyouka continued her roasting.

"RIGHT ON THE HEELS OF ALL YOUR WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE, THIS TIME WE'LL MIX IN AN ELEMENT OF PLAY IT'S A RESCUE-TRAINING RACE!!" All Might said, not minding what they were saying.

"If it's rescue training, then should it not be carried out at USJ!?" Iida asked.

"No, that place is for disaster rescue. What was I saying? Ah yes, a race!! This is a playing ground gamma where densely packed lanes make this construction site seem more like a complex labyrinth! Make four groups of five, we'll do the training one group at a time! When I've given the distress signal somewhere in the area, you all start simultaneously from outside the limits. This is a competition to see who can come to my aid first!! Of course, keep damage to the surround- ing buildings at a minimum" All Might explained everything in detail and at the last part he pointed his finger at Bakugo.

"Don't point fingers." Bakugo said while looking elsewhere as he was sure that there would be some damage thanks to his explosions.

The All Might separated us into groups of five, with the first group being Midoriya, Sero, Ojiro, Iida and Mina. And the rest of us waited for our turn in front of a giant screen that showed us the race clearly. 'Technology for the win.'

[STARTING GROUP, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!] All Mights sound was heard from the speakers.

"Iida hasn't made a complete recovery yet, he should just study by watching..." Sato said.

"All the kids with the most maneuverability in the class are in that group." Mezo spoke out.

"Yeah, if you force me to pick, I'd say maybe midoriya's at a slight disadvantage..." Sato said.

"Frankly, his true worth hasn't really been pinned down yet." Hearing what they were saying, Kyouka also spoke up.

"I mean, whenever he tries anything, he receives such grievous wounds..." Momo said with a little bit of worry for Midoriya.

"I say Sero takes 1st place." Kirishima said.

"AHHH... I can see that, but don't forget Ojiro's there, too." Denki didn't back down.

"DEKU'S DEAD LAST." Bakugo said while still looking at the screen.

"He has that wound handicapping him, but I still feel like it'll be Iida." Ochaco said while looking at the screen that showed the five participants with Asui sitting next to her.

I was standing with Shoto in the back looking at all of them and at the same time observing the race on the screen.

[START!] All Might shouted.

As soon as the signal was given, Sero took off and seeing that Kirishima said "See, look!! It's a tried-and-true tactic to climb up above in such busy terrain!"

"Which would mean that a deft sky-swinger like Sero has the advantage, huh." Mezo said after analyzing it.

Then suddenly, Midoriya passed Sero with incredible speed "Whaaa, midoriya!?" Denki and most of us were surprised.

"What's with those moves!!?" Kirishima asked.

"Woww...! Look at him hop... Actually, they're just like..." Ochaco said that and looked towards Bakugo.

All eyes fell on him, and I saw him trembling in rage. 'Well that's the Bakugo that I know.'

"iIn just one week... he's changed too much..." Denki muttered.

But it didn't last long as Midoriya lost his footing and fell down which cost him the race. Sero won the first race and All Might called for the next team, which was mine.

I was in the last group with Shoto, Momo, Sato, and Denki. As soon as the All Might turned on the distress signal everyone ran forward as fast as they could, using their quirks in different ways. Shoto made an ice ramp and skated through it with the help of fire being produced as a jet from his left side. Momo did it by creating grappling guns and a glider to make it to the meeting point. Sato just ate lots of candy and ran as fast as he could, Denki was also in the same boat as Sato, but slower. I looked at them and with a smile I jumped straight to the finishing point with grace.

After that all ended, All Might called for me. So I went to where he was, and he spoke "Mr. Yagi have told me what you asked. There is a simple answer and a complicated one. What do you want to hear?"

"The simple one." I replied.

"I just wanted to bring peace to the war torn country of ours as soon as possible and being a symbol was the only way for that. Now run along, Aizawa have something to tell you." All Might said.

"Yeah....I get that. And before I go, can I ask you a quick question?" I asked him.

"Sure go ahead." All Might said.

"It's nothing really. I get that you wanted to bring peace as soon as possible, but I'm sure that you were not able to save everyone. Mind you, I'm not criticizing you, but couldn't you have formed a team of heroes that could band together to fight the crime?" I asked him.

Smiling he said "It was in my mind, to share the weight I carry on my shoulders. But I was already too late and It was not the time that I could lead a team."

"I understand. Anyway thanks for clearing my doubt." I told him.

"Happy to help a student." All Might said with his iconic smile.

After leaving him, I went straight to the staff room where Aizawa was.

As soon as I got in, he gave me a letter and said "This is an invitation to I-Island. It's given to the student who got first in the sports festival. You can go with a plus one."

I looked through it and asked "Can I decline this?"

"You can. If you do that, then it will go to Bakugo." Aizawa said.

"That's alright with me. See ya, ah! Don't forget to bring Eri this weekend." I told him.

"Don't you have to study?" He asked me.

"Sensei, I'm second in the class for the exams, it's alright." I told him.

"Whatever you say." He gave in and agreed to bring Eri this weekend.