New Friends

As the day went on, Chris came to realize that being in one of the top classes was NOT as hard as he had been expecting. Turns out, the classes were not too far off from what he was learning back at the Xavier Academy. Mr. Aizawa, however, was a bit boring to listen to, unlike the last teacher they had that day, Midnight, who seemed to be on an endless supply of energy when it came to teaching. When the students were all leaving, she pulled him aside.

"I heard you're the student from America" she said.

Chris nodded in confirmation before she continued, "So, before you came, I had all the students create a hero code name for themselves."

"I missed that?!" Chris asked in mild frustration; that was one of the things he was looking forward to.

Midnight laughed a bit. "Don't worry. I'm giving you the week to figure something out. You'll announce it to the class when you're ready."

Chris calmed down at this. "Thank you. I did have a few names in mind, actually."

"I look forward to seeing which one you pick."

Later, Chris went to join the rest of the students outside the school. Turns out, he had already gotten along with a few of them. Midoriya and Ururaka were friendly enough, and he felt like he had quite a bit in common with Ashido. He had already made a mental note to avoid Bakugo and possibly Mineta, but he still didn't know quite enough about the others to have an opinion.

"So" Ururaka asked appearing next to him, "How was your first day? Well, first half-day, I should say."

"It was fine" Chris replied, "Not as daunting as I thought it would be"

"Don't be too surprised" Yaoyorozu said nearby, "Mr. Aizawa only makes it sound daunting. If you have the right skills, you'll get through well enough."

Bakugo scoffed, "You're kidding, right? I'm betting he won't even last the week."

"Bakugo!" Iida scolded, "That's no way to treat our new classmate!"

"Whatever."

Chris leaned over to Ururaka. "Is he always that grumpy?"

"More or less" Ururaka replied, "You get used to it."

"Speaking of skill" Jiro mentioned, "you haven't showed us your Quirk yet."

"Yeah" Mina agreed, "Come on, tell us!"

Chris nervously rubbed the back of his head. "It's…not as cool compared to some of you guys."

"Nonsense" Iida rebuked, "All Quirks are equally amazing and useful."

"Yeah" Yaoyorozu agreed, "Don't be bashful."

Chris calmed down a bit. "Well, I'll need a volunteer, if anyone's willing to step up."

The guy with the red, spiky hair, Kirishima, chuckled as he walked up and stood next to Chris. "Sure, I'll do it."

Chris reached over, patting Kirishima on the shoulder.

Bakugo scoffed. "Seriously, what kinda power needs you to just go patting-"

He was cut off as everyone gasped when Chris suddenly morphed his hand into an almost rock-like substance, just like Kirishima.

"It's called Copycat" Chris explained, "I can copy any power I want, and it lasts as long as I want it to. Unfortunately, I can only copy one at a time and I have to make physical contact with whoever I copy from."

"Not gonna lie," Kaminari exclaimed, "I did not see that coming."

"You and me both" Mineta agreed.

"That's so cool!" Midoriya said.

"Yeah" Mina said, "You don't need to be bashful about that. It's awesome."

Chris blushed and smiled at the others' reactions.

"Well, now that that's out of the way" Iida said, "We should be leaving. We can't stay here after school hours, you know!"

The students understood and began to all file out of the courtyard.

Midoriya walked up next to Chris, "So, I think you'll be coming with me tonight."

"Pardon?" Chris asked, confused.

"You didn't hear? The school is still renovating the dorms transfer students usually stay at. For now, you'll be staying each of your classmates at least once each night. We each got the schedule and it looks like I'm first."

It took a fewmoments to process this, but Chris decided there could be worse things to happen.

"Alright" he said, "Lead the way."

"Bye, you two" Ururaka called, waving, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Chris waved back, but then noticed Midoriya blushing and stamering. "Oh., yeah…uh…sure! You too!"

As they walked away, Chris nudged Midoriya's shoulder. "Someone's got a huge crush."

Midoryia stammered. "Well, yeah…I guess you could say that. Man, this is embarrassing…"

Chris laughed. "It's all good. Now, let's get to your place before your face overheats."

…

Eri sat quietly in her room. She had been getting to know the symbiote that had bonded to her, and it was telling her of where his kind came from.

"So, you're from space?" she asked

'Yes', the symbiote replied, 'Our planet is long gone now, so we're now spread out, looking for a new home. You could probably use a new home yourself, actually.'

"What do you mean?"

'I can see your memories. What this "Overhaul" person is doing to you is horrible. I didn't stop him last time because I wasn't sure of what was happening before, but now I wish I did. I may have only recently spawned, but I don't want to let anyone suffer like you are now.'

Eri then felt something she hadn't felt before: she felt cared for. It made her tear up a bit.

"Can I tell you something?" she asked.

'Of course.'

"I've…I've never had someone to really talk to who actually cares like you do. Everyone else here just wants me for my quirk. I don't know why."

'I could tell. But what about you? What do you want?'

Eri sniffled a bit, and the symbiote didn't need to read her mind to see the answer; she wanted out.

'That's it. I'm getting you out of here.'

"What?" Eri gasped.

'I can help you get out. If we break out and run off…'

"No." Eri interrupted, "If we do that, that man with the mask will come after us, and he's very strong. I don't want you getting hurt."

The symbiote could see she was being genuine and had another idea.

'I'll break out myself then. He won't hurt you as much without me healing you. I'll become stronger, and once I think I'm ready, I'll come back and bust you out. You will be free, Eri.'

Eri wasn't quite sure what to think as tears filled her eyes at the thought of how much this thing that wasn't even human cared for her more than any human she lives around.

"Promise?" Eri sniffled.

A black tendril sprouted from Eri's shoulder as the symbiote's head turned to face her. She could only see white eyes in the face, but she could feel the warmth and determination in them.

"I promise" his said.

"How do you plan on getting out."

The symbiote got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Oh don't worry; I've got just the idea for that."