4. First Day

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"Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Yaoyorozu."

"Its no problem, Ms. Darkhölme! Both of our daughters are going to the same high school so it isn't a hassle in the slightest!" said a dark-haired woman as she shook hands with the blue-skinned movie director.

"And I think Momo is pretty excited about everything, too." said her husband, slightly shorter than her with dark brown hair. "She hasn't really had a chance to have other people her age over ever since she started training to become a hero. Others her age were often intimidated by or only got close to her for her intelligence while the few friends she does have are going to separate schools for various reasons. Having someone the same age as her who lives so close by going to the same school as her is probably a weight off her heart."

"I can imagine. UA accepts everyone only based on talent and performance, so she might very well be the only kid from wealth in her class. Although…" The red-haired woman leaned in close as if she were telling a secret to the other two adults present in the well-furnished meeting room. "According to Best Jeanist, of all the hero schools present in Japan Shoto Todoroki only applied to UA, and the tensions within the Todoroki household have been at an all-time high."

"Well if Tsunuagu said it then it must hold some weight," the short man said.

"True. As calm as he is, you wouldn't expect him to be the secret gossip king of both the fashion industry and Japanese hero society."

"Well, he gets his info from all across the world, not just Japan."

"Really?"

"Yep," Raven said as she took a small sip from her tea. "The two of us met at the Met Gala a couple of years back and have been best friends ever since."

"So that's why little Alice needs to stay with us, hmm?" the dark-haired woman said with a sly smile.

"Aha, guilty as charged! Tsunagu is helping me get a headstart for the biggest fashion night in the world. Even if my mutat- *ahem* quirk allows me to create my own clothes, I still have to partake in tradition for tradition's sake."

"And you have to deal with trends."

"Finding the right designer."

"And everything else that's a bore."

The three wealthy adults sighed before laughing, fully aware of how different the problems they have to deal with are to the average person.

"Alright, enough about me," Raven said, "Tell me how things have been for you guys. It's not often I get to talk to my neighbours like this."

—

Yaoyorozu, or Yaomomo as she asked me to address her, was currently unable to hide the giant smile on her face that left me feeling amused as the black car we were sitting in the back of drove to UA High School. I was staying with her and her parents for the next couple of months while Mom spent the time flying back and forth between Paris, New York, LA, Dusseldorf, and Tokyo.

And frankly, I could understand her excitement. The only other friend I have is Melissa Shield, but we only ever get to communicate via video call. And now, the two of us get to go to school with like-minded people regardless of social class.

"So, are you going to hold that smile all day or do you think your muscles are going to tire out before then?" I said casually while leaning against the car window, playing with the ball of iron hovering above my palm by making it change shape.

"Maybe the first one, I mean, this is the first step towards becoming heroes! And I got a roommate! How could I not be excited?"

The small sphere in my hand transformed into a needle-like figure that I used to pick at the dirt underneath my nails. "You're in 1-A, right? You're gonna have to tell me about the eccentrics in there. Especially since All Might will be teaching, according to the acceptance letters."

"What do you mean by eccentrics?" she said as she turned her head towards me with a confused look, her ponytail bouncing in sync with the motion.

"Oh come on. You're joking, right?"

She just continued to give me a confused look that slowly grew worried, making me roll my eyes.

"Just look at the entrance exams alone. That boy with the ice quirk looked like he was going to kill anyone at any second while the boy with the wind quirk looked and acted like he belonged in the Marines. Those two alone had some personality quirks that stood out more than their power quirks."

"Okay…but it won't be that bad."

"That's what you say now, but remember the amount of heroes that get high rankings because of their personalities just as much as their strengths. All Might is a living beef stick that never stops smiling and even names his techniques after American states despite being Japanese. Endeavour is always ranked high in the "Heroes That Look Like Villains" polls. Hawks looks like a playboy. Best Jeanist uses denim terminology whenever he can. And Mirko, trust me, is very very energetic and loud. Extremely loud.

And it's not a thing that is unique to Japan either. The number 1 Pro-Hero in the states, Star-And-Stripe, can best be described as a walking version of the American flag. If you want to look at the past, the heroes that held the moniker of Wolverine were called such because they were small, feral people who fought people many times their size. Eccentricity is just a facet of hero society. I guarantee that both of us will have a class full of hormonal teenagers completely bereft of the expected manners, class, and etiquette I'm sure you're familiar with."

"Well, that just means it'll be more fun, then," Yaomomo said as she started to nervously fiddle with the ends of her hair after pulling it over her shoulder.

"Oh, I won't deny that," finding myself amused by her reaction, "If I'm going to be going to school then I don't want to be bored."

"We're here."

The driver spoke to us from the front of the car after parking a small way down the street from the high school, giving us a chance to get out of the luxury car without bringing attention to us. Although, I'm sure that won't do anything for me the moment others hear my last name and put two and two together.

Fortunately, the language and region barrier might give me some time before I start getting some attention. But…with a class full of aspiring engineers, that might not last a long time.

The two of us walked up the hill towards the academy with our bookbags in hand and were met with the towering buildings of the famous UA High School. The entire campus itself was monumental in size.

The two of us parted ways shortly after entering the freshman building, her going to 1-A and myself going to 1-H. With my class being the last of the three in the support course, I got to see the entirety of the classes supported by the academy on my walk down the hallways.

Classes 1-A and 1-B were, as I expected, eccentric. The aspiring heroes inside were either happily screaming about getting inside the hero course or trying to intimidate the others, with some inside 1-B cursing those inside 1-A.

General education, which was composed of classes 1-C, 1-D, and 1-E was more subdued. Some cursed not being in the hero course at all, but most seemed to be happy about getting into the school at all. Of all the classes, it would make sense that the class that operated in the same vein as a normal high school class would be the most normal. The only thing worth noting about these are the grudges they held towards the hero course and the cheers of friends reuniting.

The Department of Support, made from classes 1-F, 1-G, and 1-H were loud for different reasons than the hero course. Again, some seemed to hold a grudge about not being in the hero course, but that wasn't much of a surprise. Many of these kids would have been people who relied mostly on equipment to pass the practical tests of the entrance exam. The hero course would naturally be more inclined to people who could use their quirks to fight villains, basically being a glorified gym class, and wouldn't give the kids who needed to build their way to success the time, resources, or opportunity to grow their technical prowess in the same way a class dedicated to engineering could.

And engineering was exactly what most of these three classes were doing, either out of spite for the hero students or just for the fun of it. While most of the other classes were designed with rows of stand-alone student desks, these three were made to look more like a workshop combined with a chemistry class. Where the student desks should be, instead rested ten sets of tables with sinks set in the middle of each one with the seats being replaced with stools that could easily slide under the cabinets of the mini-labs.

And lastly, 1-I, 1-J, and 1-K, the Department of Management was focused on being more in line with business and media courses combined into one. Most of these kids weren't even in their classes which made it easy to tell who these kids were. They were the ones walking around with their phones out recording and taking pictures with the other students.

The hero course had a lot of personalised physical training and specialized training fields with greater chances of fame.

General studies had a more broad and more high-quality education that rivalled some of the most prestigious colleges internationally.

The support course had equal access to the training fields the hero course used and the highest budget, as well as being constantly watched by possible sponsors and recruiters who would want to support the engineers' talents after graduation.

The management course had hands-on business opportunities with plenty of field trips and chances to meet active pro-heroes, as well as high-quality camera equipment and computers.

Hearing about the famous academies was one thing, especially since all people really seemed to care about were the flashier hero courses, but UA really seemed to give just as much attention, if not more, to the other classes.

The second I opened up the ginormous doors to class 1-H I immediately caught sight of bouncy pink hair that seemed to be attentively working on a pair of white boots that generated a very familiar energy in the brief instances it powered on. In fact, I could actually feel it from far down the hallway.

Carefully sneaking up behind her and making sure that she wasn't doing anything dangerous, I leaned over her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"Edison."

"YAAH!"

With a surprised shout that drew the attention of everyone else in the class and a few in the hallway, Mei accidentally hit the boots and caused them to turn on and start ricocheting around the classroom and attack the other students. It took a bit for me to stop laughing before using my quirk to grab the boots in mid-air and pull them to us, shutting off the gear inside.

"Wha! Who-? Alice!?" the pinkette exclaimed in surprise before pulling me into a hug and matching my mirthful laughter in kind. "You actually made it! Wait… Why didn't you text me about it if you did!?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Mary Anning!" I said with a smile on my face, "Now, tell me about these little babies of yours."

"Oh, Baby Eighty Seven! The electromagnetic soles! I was inspired by what you told me about polarities and magnetism and tried to make something with that knowledge!"

"And their purpose?" I said as I leaned against the lab table where the other boot and all her notes sat. I could easily tell from a glance at her blueprints that she had the right idea but the wrong execution.

""To enhance movement possibilities by propelling an opposing magnetic polarity to objects which would enable quick movement and a sense of lightness that would make it feel as if the wearer was levitating!""

The two of us said in tandem, causing her to look at me in shock before realizing I was reading her notes.

"But you're lacking an important component. A dual sensory system. The primary sensor's focus should be to counteract the Earth's gravitation pull with a secondary AI designed to sense smaller objects and adjust the strength of the opposing force the boots generated through something akin to sonar or echolocation, except with the usage of tiny electromagnetic pulses instead of sound. Just enough to pick up on objects but not turn off or damage electrical devices."

"What do you mean?"

"If someone wanted to get rid of someone using these boots to float above them then they would only need to throw a big enough rock near the primary sensor to make the boots push against the rock instead of the Earth. The secondary sensor's purpose would be to counteract that possibility, enabling the user to only move where they want to move. I'm sure you'd probably have discovered that later, but it'd be easier to incorporate it into the prototype design now than when you figure that out later."

"You're right! If a tiny little rock could make something useless then it…"

And like that, I lost her as she quickly became absorbed by the mathematics of the process, even writing the rudimentary beginnings of an AI's script off to the side in a matter of minutes. The only thing I could pull from her was the slight mutterings of theory craft that would make even Nikola Tesla cry from frustration if he tried to comprehend them.

After a handful of minutes, the door opened to reveal a very short man, shirtless man with metal on his fingers and a yellow helmet that sat on his reddish-orange hair. The all-too-familiar hunch of his back that all people who work too long leaning over a desk know is a sign that he likely was the most qualified teacher to educate a bunch of fellow grease monkeys.

"Alright, everyone, please put away your equipment for the time being. Don't worry, we can have a show and tell of everything later if you all want, but right now we need to take roll call and head to the entrance ceremony afterwards. I'm your homeroom teacher, the Excavation Hero Power Loader. I hope we can all get along."

Seeing that she wasn't paying attention, I slowly started to drag the boots away with my quirk in hopes that she wouldn't notice so that I could put them in the cupboards below the desk. But, unfortunately, she did notice and failed to pull them from my telekinetic grip.

"No no no no no no no!"

—

"So, I noticed class 1-A wasn't at the entrance ceremony. Care to explain?" I said as I lay down at the foot of Yaomomo's bed, the two of us in our night clothes prepared to go to sleep after the first day of school.

The black-haired girl just silently mumbled quiet enough for me to not hear, only making me more intrigued by her answer. "C'mon, hun, you gotta be louder than that."

"My homeroom teacher is a mummy, there's a perverted grape, a living explosion, and a kid that breaks his bones when he uses his quirk."

"Ahahaha! So I was right! Your class is full of eccentrics!" She started whacking me with a pillow the second I started laughing, only making me laugh harder as I grabbed another pillow and started to hit her back with it.

"Your class seemed just as weird! At least my teacher wears a shirt!"

"From the sound of it, he would prefer to wear only a sleeping bag!"

The two of us continued to joke around as the night passed, occasionally hitting the other with a pillow before falling asleep on the giant bed.

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