A Hero's Welcome

Kai walked down the winding halls of U.A., Nezu perched on his shoulder, guiding him toward the conference room on the bottom floor. Nezu's occasional directions kept them on track.

"And here we are," Nezu said, stopping in front of a door labeled Staff Only. "Are you ready to face our illustrious staff?"

"No." Kai exhaled, his breath shaky. "But that doesn't matter, does it? I'm going in there to impress them. As your student, I must remain composed, even when uncomfortable. My actions reflect on you, after all."

"Exactly," Nezu replied. "Good on you for being honest. And you're right—my reputation is now tied to yours. So, we're linked from this point forward. Now, open the door."

Kai opened the door to a fairly standard conference room: a long table, a small coffee stand in the corner, a projector mounted on the back wall, and roughly twenty pro heroes in costume.

He recognized most of them immediately. On the left side, he spotted the first-year heroics homeroom teachers—Vlad King and Eraserhead. Next to Eraserhead was Present Mic, followed by Midnight, Snipe, and Thirteen. Reading a small booklet with his blocky fingers was Cementoss, while Ectoplasm sat beside him. Hound Dog chewed on a rawhide near Ectoplasm, and half asleep next to him was Recovery Girl.

On the other side of the room were heroes Kai was less familiar with. Closest to him was Power Loader, who seemed genuinely shocked when Kai walked in. Past him sat a rail-thin Yagi Toshinori, followed by a bored-looking Lunch Rush.

Beyond Lunch Rush, the faces grew unfamiliar. A man in his early twenties, with white hair and a fireman's uniform, sat next to U.A.'s resident chef. After him was a man with wispy purple hair, wearing an aviator's jacket over a three-piece suit. Further along, almost clinging to the purple-haired man, was another young hero dressed in muted grays and blues, with a jet black ponytail. He wore artist's gloves and refused to look up from his handheld console.

After the three sort-of familiar men, there were three people Kai was clueless about. There was a woman with a goth/punk inspired hero outfit, with headphones resting around her neck. After her was a large man wearing a neon vest, like you would see on construction workers. He was sitting in his chair, arms crossed. The last was a young woman in a cyan hero costume, a respirator over her mouth, blowing cold smoke through it.

"Hello, my beloved U.A. staff," Nezu began, jumping from Kai's shoulder and landing gracefully on the long table. Kai, sensing the shift in the room's attention, decided it was a good time to make his way over to an empty seat next to Recovery Girl.

"You may be wondering why I've called you here before classes start today," Nezu continued, "and that's because I have news that could very well change the landscape of heroics as we know it! And it all hinges on my new personal student. Isn't that exciting?"

Kai then stood up and all attention shifted to him. "Hello everyone, I'm Kai Sugimoto, and I'm Nezu's apprentice. Please take care of me."

The room settled into a pregnant pause for what felt like eons but was closer to ten seconds.

Suddenly Eraserhead spoke up. "What the hell do you mean 'change heroics'? What could he possibly do that's that potent?"

The room fell silent again as Eraserhead's question hung in the air. Kai could feel the eyes of the entire room on him, and though he'd prepared himself for this moment, the weight of it was almost suffocating.

Nezu, ever the strategist, didn't miss a beat. He jumped back onto the table, tail flicking excitedly. "I'll let Kai explain. It's a fascinating ability, one that I'm certain will make waves across hero society."

Kai took a shuddering breath and began his explanation. "My quirk is a powerful combination of my parents' abilities. My father had a quirk called Radiation Control, which was relatively weak. He could direct energy nearby, but the most impressive thing he could do was speed up our microwave. My mother's quirk, Arboreal, allowed her to take on the properties of a tree."

He paused for a moment, letting that sink in. "For the first few years of my life, we thought I'd just inherited my mom's quirk. But then, one day when I was four, we were driving by a power plant, and I passed out. That's when we discovered I'd actually inherited aspects of both my parents' quirks. I realized I could take energy from my surroundings and convert it into small fruits that grant boosts or abilities related to that energy."

Kai paused again, taking a breath, hoping his improvised story would be convincing enough.

The room fell silent for half a minute until Power Loader finally spoke up. "Well, we knew that much already; it was in your application, and you've been using it for us to research the fruits. So, why are we here now?"

Nezu seized the moment to interject. "Because there's more to Kai's quirk than we've revealed, right Kai?"

"Yes, sir, there is," Kai replied, his heart racing. "Roughly a month ago, my parents were in a tragic accident. I won't go into details, but it left me orphaned and devastated. In the aftermath, I became listless and depressed. I thought that if my quirk were strong enough, I could have guaranteed their survival. I could have helped people."

As he spoke, Kai gasped for air, realizing he hadn't been breathing properly. Tears began to trace down his cheeks, surprising him. 'That's strange. I have no memories of them—why am I crying? I didn't even know those people.' He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "It seems that the stress I went through led to a quirk awakening, and now I'm here."

The weight of Kai's words hung in the air, a mix of sympathy and curiosity rippling through the gathered heroes. Recovery Girl reached out, a compassionate look in her eyes. "It sounds like you've been through a lot, Kai."

"I wouldn't say all that," Kai replied, sitting back down. "One of the first things you learn in this world is that life isn't fair. What I've gone through is nothing compared to what others endure. I just want to use my newfound gifts to help people."

The young man with black hair pulled into a ponytail set his Gameboy on the table and spoke up. "Cool story and all, but why exactly does that mean your quirk is 'revolutionary'?"

Before Kai could respond, the man with wispy hair quickly covered his mouth and chimed in. "I apologize for my charge's bluntness. He's had a tumultuous childhood. We empathize with your plight; he simply struggles to express his emotions properly."

Kai glanced between the two, intrigued. The man with the wispy hair exuded a protective air, while the ponytailed young man seemed earnest beneath his brash exterior.

"It's okay, I understand," Kai said. "To answer your question, I've started absorbing a new energy—one that transforms into far more powerful fruits I call Devil Fruits. These fruits grant the wielder abilities that can be considered a second quirk."

At that shocking revelation, the wispy-haired man and his charge both widened their eyes. Yagi Toshinori, sitting nearby, coughed violently, nearly spitting up a pint of blood.