Dorm Life Begins part 4

Mina bounced over, eager to share. "I tried a bit of everything. I rarely won first place, but the experience I received was worth it all the same!"

Tanya smiled despite her upsetness at the mess of a room. She knew it'd only get worse. 'I can work on her academic skills later but I am happy that I have made allies with one of the more proactive students in the class. She sharpened her skills to work with her fantastic, versatile, and dangerous Quirk even before she came to UA.'

"What do you think Tanya?" Mina got up in her personal space and asked loudly.

Tanya put her hands on Mina's shoulders and scooted her back, "I think it's an excellent room, full of personality. But Iida is right, you should keep it more orderly."

"Not you too!" She hammed up her groaning as she slouched.

"It's not a very interesting room." Uraraka sheepishly scrubbed at the back of her head.

Uraraka's room was fairly barebones yet still cluttered somehow. A little cactus sat on her desk. A small TV was placed on a metal rack. A fan overlooked her table and floor pillow. Up on the wall was an astronomy poster and explanation of the night sky and all its constellations.

Midoriya was a blushing fool who could barely take a step further. "G-good room." He stuttered.

"I can feel the familiarity." Tanya sighed. She too came from a humble background with a construction guardian.

'Uraraka's Quirk scares me.' Tanya thought as she watched Uraraka. 'It's hard to tell how her Quirk exactly works. She says it makes things weightless yet sometimes ignores air resistance or still maintains some properties of momentum but only when it suits her. Ugh,' Tanya mentally groaned, 'no consistency. Powerful yet unpredictable. My most hated dynamic.'

The class walked along in a murmur of excitement and chatter. Tsuyu kept her head down and remained silent. Her face was as stoic as ever.

A dash of nervousness and stomached shame swirled inside her. Would everyone still be home if she had reacted quicker and jumped away? Would blood not be on Tanya's hands? The very sight of watching a man be torn apart still haunted her. She had deemed it her own fault. 'Everyone looks so happy together. So, why does it weigh on me?'

As Mina led the class forward, she was about to announce Tsuyu's room being up next until she heard a whisper in her ear.

"I don't think she's feeling so good." Toru spoke under her breath. 'Being invisible means no one can read my lips, nor even visibly tell when I'm talking.'

Mina glanced across the crowd at Tsuyu who stood slouched at the back. Her eyes were clouded with thoughts, and something about the way her footsteps lacked energy told Mina they weren't good thoughts.

"The next room is Momo's!" Mina shouted to the class who happily followed along.

Tanya eyed Tsuyu's door as the class walked by as she thought to herself, 'That's odd. Isn't Tsuyu's room next?'

She had rather enjoyed Tsuyu's company and thought highly of the frog girl's promising talent.

"Well," Momo smiled awkwardly as she slowly opened her door, "I may have miscalculated. Unlike all of your rooms, full of personality, mine is… a bit cramped."

Bed. Momo's room mostly consisted of a white, lavish, curtained bed. There wasn't much room for Momo's bookshelf nor for her desk.

"Huuge!" Uraraka cried as she held herself back from jumping into the massive bed.

"It was the furniture I was using," Momo held her chin in embarrassment, "I didn't think the room would be so small."

"Wait, you didn't check the measurements?" Tanya asked in bafflement. "It's a college dorm, how big did you think it would be?!"

"I read they were normal sized bedrooms." Momo squeaked as she buried herself further behind her hands.

Tanya stared at her with dead, owl eyes. 'Every time she has opened her mouth, she has remained completely divorced from reality. Her Quirk is amazing, by far one of the most useful, no, the most useful Quirk I have ever seen. Of course it had to be wielded by the one girl who asks if their teacher will be judging us.'

Tanya stood at ease in front of her door. All the way up on the fifth floor. 'Surely playing along with everyone's game would appease Nedzu. Just have to let them look in and have a few little chats. Can't be that hard.'

'Prettiest girl in the class.' Kaminari thought. 'And we're going to see her room!'

'The class's darkest member.' Tokoyami silently gulped as he prepared himself.

Midoriya tried to keep his feelings in check. Still bashful over the idea of looking into girls' rooms but Tanya was something else. She scared him with her brutality, intrigued him with her intelligence, and inspired him with her tenacity. While she didn't align with what he believed heroes to be like, she had no less saved lives.

"Everyone. My room." She stated before opening the door and stepping aside.

Her room was incredibly utilitarian. She had her filing cabinet full of studies, everything from graded papers to handouts. It was also where she kept her extensive notes. She had a desk fit for an office, with plentiful yet mundane supplies and a functional laptop. Above it was a bookshelf of random assortment. In the middle of the room was a simple workout mat.All of her clothes were neatly folded up and tucked away in her closet. On the upper shelf, hidden from everyone, was a green peaked cap. Finally, her bed which only had the lower half of a bedsheet and a pillow.

Mina whispered to Tanya as she walked in. "Sad Bakugo isn't here to enjoy this?"

Tanya turned her head in confusion. "What? Why should I be sad?" Her wing flicked in annoyance as Mina had left her with a chuckle. "Mina!" She called out in light anger, "Explain yourself!"

"It's… plainer than I was expecting." Uraraka said sadly as she walked in.

"I'm utilitarian, I try to keep things down to a reasonable limit." Tanya answered with a shrug.

"Is that a comic book!" Midoriya pointed to the familiar thin spine amidst Tanya's collection. He was eager to find common ground. "What hero do you follow?!"

"I was doing research for my costume design. I ended up bringing one home." Tanya answered bluntly. "I don't get the appeal of a comic book when heroes are on the news at any hour."

"It's the joy of the written story!" Midoriya balled his fists as he got invested. "The news only shows the fight, but with a story you can get invested in the action!"

'So it really is like an informal report. Probably embellished a lot for marketability. I can respect the craftsmanship.' Tanya thought as she pulled at her upper lip. 'Wonder if I could have a comic one day? Make some extra money selling my combat reports to artists.' The possibilities began to unfold in her mind.

"What's in the cabinet?" Toru asked. "I'm sure you've got some good secrets!"

Tanya walked over and popped open a rack. She slid it out, tapped her fingers along, and pulled out an easily forgotten sheet that Midnight had given to the class about symmetrical and asymmetrical costume design. "Everything UA has given out. I keep thorough notes of all of our classes and have recorded each assignment, handout, and test."

"This!" Iida chopped at her in excitement, "This is the ideal UA students should strive for!"

"Thank you Iida." Tanya gave a little nod of appreciation.

Toru sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I thought it was going to be something cool, not more school stuff."

Bakugo and Sato arrived back at the dorms, burdened with grocery bags filled to their limits.

Sato blinked in confusion as the class was huddled around a white board with names and tally marks. "What are they doing?"

"Don't care." Bakugo huffed as he marched past. "We gotta cook if we want to eat before tomorrow."

"Ay! Did someone say food?!" Sero poked his head over the crowd and asked.

Half the class turned as their attention was diverted from the board. Murmurs and questions of food arose.

Sato began to walk after Bakugo towards the kitchen section. "We were actually planning on making a stir fry. As a housewarming dinner."

"You guys can cook?" Mineta asked as he jumped to try to see what they had in the bags.

"WHAT KIND OF PERSON CAN'T COOK!?" Bakugo shouted and scared off the runt. A good portion of the class winced as he called them out. "You should be ashamed of yours-!" He was cut off as his sleeve was grabbed and pulled towards the kitchen. "Hey! I'm not done yelling at these extras!"

Sato had been dealing with Bakugo's temper for over an hour and had started to get accustomed to it. "Sooner we can get cooking, the sooner you can show the class your talents." He said with a small smile.

Midoriya had his mouth covered as he had just watched someone divert Bakugo's rage with seeming ease. 'Am, am I dreaming?!'

"Hey six arms!" Bakugo barked to Shoji as he began to set up in the kitchen. "Can you use a knife?!"

Sato stepped in front of Bakugo and said, "What he means to say is, could we have some help?"

Shoji rolled his weight forward as he stood off the couch. 'Couldn't hurt to lend a few hands.' He thought.

Some of the class watched as the three men cooked up a storm.

Bakugo chopped through the meat like a machine with a purpose. His red eyes were transfixed on his work and his hands moved with confidence and precision. Light breathing could be heard from his nose as he went into a minor flow state.

Sato had a relaxed smile on his face. All of his anxiety melted away as he washed the rice in a strainer.

Shoji was on a different level. After being barked at by Bakugo and guided by Sato, he had taken over half the kitchen. Arms split like tree branches with eyes watching over each station. What would have taken three more students he could do on his own as branched out arms worked.

"Did your mother never tell you how to use a knife?!!" Bakugo shouted as he watched Shoji cut a little slower than he'd like. Bakugo hadn't stopped his methodical and rapid chopping to yell.

The elbows to the station closest to Bakugo sprouted another arm with a mouth on it. "I'm wielding seven knives right now." He said bluntly.

"Seven knives yet you can't use any of them right!" Bakugo chopped harder as he began to snarl.

"He's getting a lot of work done." Sato said with a sweatdrop as he worked on filling pots with water for the rice.

Several of the class watched and stayed back to avoid Bakugo's wrath. A vicious cycle of anger and calming spun round and round.

"Wow." Midoriya thought aloud as he sat in a pulled up chair. "Look at them go."

Sato set aside the rice to wait for the water to heat. He moved on to putting the chopped goods into sorted bowls. A soft and thoughtless hum sang behind his lips as he moved from task to task.

"Are you really standing around watching guys cook?" Mineta asked before getting his hair ball slapped by Kaminari.

"Shut it before Bakugo hears you." Kaminari hissed in fear as he tried to correct Mineta's behavior. "Do you not want food?"

The runt grumbled as he stalked away.

"They truly are renaissance men. Masters of multiple skills." Tokoyami said as he had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall.

"Hm! Hm!" Toru nodded happily as she watched the men cook.

"Beef done!" Bakugo barked out as he cleared his space to move on to heating up the wok.

Shoji wiped his brow as he saw the cumulation of his work. Bowls upon bowls of assorted chopped vegetables and a few bowls of mushrooms.

Sato smiled as he lopped off a cut of butter for the cooking rice and stirred it in. ''Just like mom.' Once the butter had been thoroughly mixed in, he put the lid on and lowered the heat down to a very small simmer.

After nearly an hour, all of the rice was ready.

"Who here is vegetarian or vegan?" Sato softly raised his voice as he kept track of which pots had butter and which didn't.

Koda meekly raised his hand without a word. "V-vegatarian…" He squeaked.

Sato gave a soft nod as he and Bakugo got to work actually cooking the stir fry.

The dynamic between them was vastly different. Bakugo cooked like a machine from hell, unflinching from fire and hot oil, no mess was made despite his intensity. Sato's strong frame made handling the massive wok easy, and his motions were smooth and thorough.

Tanya smiled as she watched the duo cook. 'Reminds me of the desert. Seeing all the troops eagerly watch the chiefs cook…' She shooed the memory away, she had no time to be nostalgic.

Mina caught Tanya's faint smile and grinned lightly herself. 'She seems happy. Who knew she was a foodie?'

Bakugo had his arms crossed behind the kitchen counter that separated the cooking world from the rest of the dorms. A shadow overcast his face except for his red, glaring eyes. He growled with authority, "Anyone who wants to eat, pay up front."

"Awhhh!" Uraraka flopped her head onto the table. The thought of money hurt her.

Tanya fished into her pocket and began doing math in her head. 'They bought enough food for the entire class for several days. Assuming four meals for myself, that gives me a price portion of one over twenty one divided by four. That comes out too…'

She held out a stack of yen. "For my share, plus profits for cooking."

"No, allow me." Tanya was cut off from paying as Momo stepped forward. "May I see the receipt for everything?"

Bakugo glared at Momo while Sato fetched the long receipt and handed it over.

Momo read through everything. "I can pay for this. Allow me to get my purse." She took the receipt and walked away to her room.

Tanya stared, once more dumbfounded. 'W-why? Why would anyone pay for an entire class like this?' She couldn't wrap her head around the idea of such blatant philanthropy. 'You're not getting anything back from this?!'

"Are you ok Tanya?" Mina asked, a little nervous as to why Tanya was stunned by this. "Money problems at home?"

Tanya slowly put her yen away while muttering. "Why would she do that?"

'Trust issues?' Mina made a checklist to look into as she tried to answer her friend's doubts. "Because she has enough money to handle it."

"No. I get that," Tanya reassured her, "but why would anyone throw money away for nothing in return?"

Mina put her hand to her chin as she had to genuinely think about it. "Because… hmmm. Well, is that any different from being a hero? She did it because it's something within her power and she wanted to help everyone here."

Tanya paused as she looked down in thought. "Something to consider." She mumbled.

After everyone had settled in for dinner, the twilight hours bathed the dorms in gold light. For the first time, Class A felt safe, happy, and a little more together.

Bonded both by strife and merriment. They realized this was where they all belonged. No one had turned away from the horrors of the USJ. Everyone had decided to improve and support each other in their own ways.

Class A had decided to be heroes and had a taste of what was to come.

A week had passed and classes had indeed gotten back into swing immediately.

Aizawa had stated that 'Disasters happen, heroes must continue their work through anything. The same should go for hero students. You had your week off.' Not that it shut up the complaints from choice students.

Then one day, Aizawa entered the class with a more exasperated look than usual. His tired eyes drifted across the class as he held the silence hostage.

Everyone sat still and stared at him. They partially knew what he was going to say but they never wanted to place their bets. He walked up to the podium, each footstep beat as clearly as a slow drum. Aizawa took a sigh as he looked over the room.

"The sports festival is coming up." He announced with all the enthusiasm of a farmer saying it was a cloudy day.

"LET'S GOOOO!!!!" Mina's voice rose above the class's cheering.

'This is it!' Tanya grinned and laughed to herself as the path to victory started to emerge. 'This is my chance to show myself to All Might! To beat out Midoriya!'

"A perfectly normal school event!" Kaminari held his hands out to the sky like it was a gift from the heavens. "At long last!"

There was a knock at the door which caused everyone to fall quiet.

"Go ahead and open it. You've already disturbed the class." Aizawa ordered dully as his eyebrows furrowed in focused annoyance.

The door was slid open to reveal a horde of students. At the lead and standing in the doorway was a woman with long, green vines for hair. A patient smile rested on her elegant face.

She gave a little bow. "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience Aizawa Sensei." Her voice was gentle, kind, and maintained a rhythmic steadiness like a practiced physician. "We merely desired to meet our opposition."

"We'll crush you!" A deep guttural voice barked from the horde from a head of white hair. As he tried to push forward, the green lady used one of her hair vines to keep him back and out of sight.

Before anyone in Class A could fire back, the lead lady said calmly, "I'm sure you all look forward to the opportunity to combat one another."

Bakugo huffed as he blew them all off and leaned back in his chair. "Fat fucking chance any of you extras will beat me."

The classes bursted in chaos and shouting. A choir of young heroes making bold claims and declarations of threats.

"Mr. Bakugo!" Iida shouted as he chopped at the blonde. "You absolutely can not go making enemies this early!"

Bakugo raised a middle finger. "Last I checked, we're all enemies here."

"I side with Bakugo on this." Tanya nodded as she stood so she could see the classes.

She raised her voice for the class to hear. Her wings unfurled to their full, intimidating span. "Everyone here is your competition!" The classes began to quiet down as her voice raised above them. "First place can only be held by one person! There are no sides, only temporary allies."

"I am so glad you can see the truth of this." The green lady said with a hint of sadness behind her voice. "I know I look forward to facing you, dear angel."

Tanya grimaced as she was called an angel once again. She then slipped into a grinning smirk as she stared down her opponent. "And I look forward to winning."

In the quiet of the standoff, the green lady spoke and asked, "I apologize, I don't believe I have asked you for your name yet."

"Tanya." She said sternly. "Tanya Tenikari."

The green lady gave a little bow of her head. "And I am Ibara Shiozaki."

Tanya's heart froze like a bomb moments before exploding. Anger, fear, desperation, it all stood at attention before it went into a wild boil. Her lip rose in a silent snarl. 'Her.' She declared war in her head. 'She has to go. Being X's chosen champion.'

Shiozaki put her hands together, tilted her head and smiled, then walked away.

While the classes went back to bickering, Shiozaki thought to herself about the hint of sadness she felt of Tanya. 'It pains me so, dear angel, that you reject God's light. Can you not see that his mercy awaits you with open arms? Maybe not… A lot of people have lost their way.'

'And I shall light it.'

Author's note: I had been debating in my head for the last few months over whether or not to add more Youjo Senki characters. It's actually what has eaten so much of my time, a writer's block with their names on it.

I know a lot of people may have been hyped for their addition, but I felt that it would throw a wrench into the character arc of Tanya. To either have a rock to rely upon, or an arch enemy outside of the mha cast and Being X (who kind of exists just beyond the story) would disrupt everything as the Youjo Senki connections must be resolved first.

In light of this, I am retconning a detail way back in chapter 3. I am removing the mystery student from Class B. Yes, this makes the classes 21 to 20, but Mineta will sort himself out of the fic quickly enough which lowers it to 20 to 20.

I have been writing this fic for almost a year now and originally I was running with a "This is cool! There are no mistakes! I have no foreseeable consequences!" mentality but as I wrote, the story evolved and matured. The earlier faults began to manifest and I was presented with a problem. A problem with which the solution would be uncomfortable in any cut.

To those of you who were hyped to see other characters in mha, I present you an alternative. Leave a comment whatever the system may call it, and tell me that you'd like to see it. If there was an audience for it, I'll write an omake of them.

In other light! Who's hyped for the sports festival!!!

Shiozaki and Tanya have met, the drama has started. Midoriya has become a boss fight which needs to be handled. The classes have been buffed so all the events are going to play out in some very interesting ways!