9 Welcome to U.A.

I arrived at the my assigned classroom, class 1A, a few minutes before class was slated to begin. I paused outside the door, a giant one maybe three meters tall, already hearing voices inside. Meeting new people, especially classmates you were going to spend the rest of the year with, was always intimidating, no matter what anyone else told you.

Settling my nerves, I gripped the doorknob and turned it, opening the supersized door.

The door swung open and I entered the classroom, scanning the room and its inhabitants. Inside, there were only a couple students who came early, seating in their assigned seats and chatting with each other.

I tried to see if I could spot one or both of the cute girls I had spoken to at the entrance exams, only to be disappointed to see that was not the case. The orange haired girl, Itsuka Kendo, should have gotten enough points to get into U.A., judging from how she could easily smash apart the robots. The stoic beauty, Yui Kodai, on the other hand, I wasn't sure about since I only saw her near the end of the exams. Well, not everyone was here yet, so there could still be a chance we were in the same class.

When I entered the classroom, several head spun towards me as well and I hoped the disappointment I was feeling did not show up on my face.

I gave them the ones who were looking at me a nervous smile, before one of them, a red-haired guy pointed at me and shouted, "OH! You were that manly guy who smashed apart that robot in one punch! That was so manly!"

It was rare for me to be lost for words, but this was one of those times. How was I supposed to respond to that, especially if the first impression the people here had of me was that I was a violent, 'manly' guy?

"Y-you must be mistaken-"

"No way, there is no way I could mistake someone as manly as you! You were so cool, flying down and punching that faux villain into pieces with one fist looking like All Might!"

As flattered as I was being compared to someone like All Might, I decided to nip this in the bud.

"Ah, I remember you now. I didn't recognize you at first cause you have red hair now. Nice to meet you, I'm Kurogami Yasuo. But you can just call me Yasuo."

"Yasuo, huh? What a manly name! I'm Kirishima Eijiro, you can call me Eijiro!" He loudly responded. Somehow, I didn't hate that energy of his.

A bespectacled guy, who I recognized as the rude and impatient person from the entrance exam auditorium that interrupted Present Mic coughed to get our attention, "If we're doing introductions, then let me join in. My name is Tenya Iida. I'm from Somei Private Academy, it is good to make your acquaintance, please take care of me." (Imagine Iida is using the formal greeting - Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu)

Wow, how formal. Not at all like my first impression of him. Somei... an elite private academy huh, no wonder.

Another person approached us, this time a tall, muscular young man with pale gray with six arms attached to each other by a web of skin. "Ah, my name is Shoji Mezo. Uhm, Yasuo-san, we've actually met before, do you remember?"

I smiled, "Of course I do. My school played against yours in the Middle School Regional Soccer League. You were the goalkeeper, right?"

Though I could not see his mouth, I could discern that he was smiling as well from his eyes, "Yes. It has been awhile. You were a very skillful opponent. We lost not for no reason."

"You were a terrifying goalkeeper as well," I praised honestly, "Your six arms spread out covered half the goal, y'know, half!"

He shook his head, "You still managed to score twice against me, that just goes to show how good you were."

Iida took this chance to lean in, "Could it be... were you from Akiyama Middle School, Yasuo-san."

"Ah, please, no need for honorifics. And yeah, how did you know?"

The spectacled teen nodded, "I understand, Yasuo. And your school's soccer club was actually pretty famous amongst the sports club in the region. Something about a dark horse soccer club that no one treated seriously that suddenly won the soccer championship two years in a row. I heard from my school's soccer club members that there was a black-haired devil that dominated the field. Now I realize, that must have been you, right?"

My eyes widened slightly, "Oh wow, I didn't know our school was famous. And I don't know about black-haired devil, that sounds overly exaggerated to me."

While we continued chatting more, talking about the respective sports clubs we were in during middle school mostly - Iida was in the track and field club while Eijiro did rugby; more students started streaming in. Noticeably, a super cute, fairly tall girl with what I could only describe as a rather mature physique. Her long black hair was tied up into a spiky ponytail that screamed 'I am here!'.

I looked at the people I was talking to, slightly upset that it was all just dudes but was happy regardless to have made some fast friends with shared interests.

The classroom door was suddenly slammed open and a sharp-eyed, guy with spiky ash-blonde hair walked in looking cranky like he hasn't had his morning coffee. Unlike the fitting pants all the other guys were wearing, his was baggy which reminded me of a certain fashion style.

'Wow, that guy, he is definitely a yankee, right?' (Yankee as in a teenage delinquent who wears baggy pants and rides motorcycles)

I stared at him for a moment longer than I should have apparently, as the guy glared at me and snapped.

"What are you looking at, you…" He paused for a moment as though searching my appearance for a distinctive feature to grab hold to, "…Ink hair!"

I raised an eyebrow at his attempt at an insult but wasn't inclined to answer to such a rude way to greet someone. Really, was ink hair the best he could come up with. Hmm, I guess I didn't have any distinctive features to make fun unlike Iida with his glasses or Mezo with his six arms.

"How rude! Please be aware that you're in U.A., the most prestigious Hero Academy in Japan. You should be careful with the way you speak!" Iida jumped in on my behalf.

"Huh!? Like I care about any of that." The yankee looking guy brushed past Iida and went to his seat, putting his feet up on the desk.

"You-! Remove your feet from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came here before us as well as the craftsmen who made that table!" Iida angrily berated.

"Like I said, I don't care about dumb things like that. What middle school are you from, extra." The delinquent looking guy shot back.

"I-I'm from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida." Iida replied, and to his credit looked to have extended his hand for a amicable resolution.

However, the thug ignored the offered hand and metaphorical olive branch, "Somei!? A stuck-up elitist, then? I should blow you to bits!"

"You're awful. Do you really wish to become a hero!?" Iida blanched.

I narrowed my eyes. You tend to find these one of these types of people everywhere; arrogant, self-centred and aggressive and conceited. People who thought the universe revolved around them. The types who tended to become villains when they grew up. Honestly, I didn't know how this guy managed to slip through U.A.'s strict character requirement and somehow snaked his way in.

Truthfully, I didn't want to get involved with a troublesome guy like him who would sooner or later get expelled for his behaviour. But since Iida stood up for me a moment ago, it would only be right to return the favour.

I approached the two of them, looking down at the delinquent with cold eyes, "Hey, this here is a Hero Academy. Judging by how you are behaving, you're obviously in the wrong place since you belong at a Villain Academy instead."

"HUH!? What did you say to me, Ink Hair!? You want me to blow you to bits too!?" He angrily retorted, slamming his hands on the table and standing up to meet me eye to eye. Although, since he was a little shorter than me, I was still looking down at him.

I shrugged, "Just calling it like I see it, villain."

He growled, "You ink-hair bastard, listen closely! I'm going to be come the future number 1 hero, you got me? The rest of you are just extras, just pebbles in my way! So don't get in my way or else I will blow you to bits!"

Today I learned that I did not respond well to threats as I glowered at the shorter guy, "Try it, punk."

Iida nervously stepped in, "T-this is getting out of hand. Let's just calm down and- oh you are…" He suddenly turned away and walked off, as if having forgotten about the entire incident even though I intervened to back him up in the first place. Right now I was just worried what would the first impression of me my classmates would have of me after seeing this exchange, especially that, ahem, mature looking girl, who was looking at us curiously.

Iida was now walking towards a short kid who frankly looked like he belonged in a grade or two below us just going by his appearance. He had messy, dark green, curly hair and looked so nervous one would think he was walking to an electric chair instead.

"I'm from Somei Private High-" Iida began, before the short kid interrupted him. What's with people interrupting each other like that, seriously.

"I heard you from before!" He blurted out, "Ah… I'm Izuku Midoriya. Pleased to meet you Iida."

"Midoriya… you perceived the true nature of that practical exam…"

I tuned out as I saw that the delinquent had lost interest in arguing with me now, preferring to stare at the Midoriya guy who just walked in instead. Whatever, this wasn't my beef to begin with in the first place.

I ignored him and walked back to Eijiro and Mezo.

"That looked intense. What's the deal with that guy?" Eijiro remarked, looking cautiously at the thug.

I shrugged, "People like him will always be around. Guess it's our bad luck to be stuck with someone like that in our class. We've all gotta learn to deal with jerks someday."

Mezo gave me a thumbs up, "I think you handled that pretty well, Yasuo."

I gave him a slight smile, "Thanks, Mezo."

I looked around the classroom, which was mostly filled up except for one seat, which probably belonged to the girl that just came in. I had to admit that I was disappointed the two cuties, Itsuka and Yui either wasn't accepted or wasn't in my class. At least there was one who was hotter than the both of them in my class.

(I think it's pretty normal for teenage boys like Yasuo to be checking out cute girls. All guys do that, whether consciously or unconsciously. So don't think of this story as having a pervy MC or be expecting a harem – it's not going to be one of those stories.)

The school bell suddenly rang, indicating it was time for class to begin. I searched for my seat, remembering that my I was assigned seat number 19. To my pleasant surprise, I was seated right in front of the spiky haired cutie I noticed.

I went up to her, waved and smiled, "Hey, nice to meet you. My name is Yasuo, seat number 19. Looks like we will be sitting near each other."

She returned the smile, "Nice to meet you. I'm Momo. And yes, looks like it."

I was about to say something else when a gruff voice came from the entrance of the classroom, "If you're here to socialize, then get out."

I jumped slightly before quickly turning to Momo and whispering, "Sorry, talk to you later."

She chuckled at my antics and nodded.

At the front of the classroom, shakily stood up, wrapped in a sleeping bag before removing it.

"This is the Hero Course. It took eight seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You lot aren't very rational, are you?"

From the sleeping bag, came a haggard-looking guy, with pale skin and messy, shoulder-length black hair. As well as sporting a ragged, black fatigues.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. Pleased to meet you lot."

He pulled out a pair of dark-blue, short sleeve shirt with white lines on it. "Change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds. Quickly. Don't waste time."

That was all he said before he turned to leave the classroom.

We all looked at each other confused. Where were the changing rooms, or the locker rooms? Where were the grounds, or more specifically, which part of the grounds was he referring to? U.A. occupied a massive amount of land – for all we knew, he could have been referring to the cityscape testing locations we had our practical exams at.