Chapter 21: The New Transfer Student
Author: Geraint
(MC's POV)
This happened before I went to Tokyo with All Might.
I was sitting with Rumi at the riverbank, eating hamburgers and watching the sunset. The golden light reflected off the water as we relaxed side by side.
"Ichika... I have something to tell you."
"Hm? What is it?"
"...I don't think I'll be able to see you for a while."
I froze."Eh? Why? Is it because of me? I know I've been forceful but—"
"No, it's not like that!" she interrupted.
I sat back down beside her, feeling a little hollow inside."Rumi... do you hate me?"
She shook her head."Nope. I told you—it's not like that."
"Then why?"
Rumi looked up at the sky, her eyes distant.
"I feel like I'm not enough for you right now. I realized that when we fought in the ring."
"You're fine the way you are."
"Not to me. When you were beating me so easily, I saw loneliness in your eyes. Not joy. But when we fought that villain boss together, you looked alive—you were enjoying the fight, like you'd finally found someone strong enough to challenge you."
"Rumi..."
She grinned at me, full of fire again.
"So you'd better watch out, Ichika! Next time we meet, I'll be way stronger—and I'm gonna beat you! So prepare yourself!"
(Img<<<)
"Sure. I'll stay at the top. No—I'll surpass even Prime All Might. That's the kind of man I'm going to become."
"For now, I'm going to travel around Japan while doing hero work. I'll train like crazy."
"...Still, you better call me sometimes. I'll get lonely if I don't hear your idiot voice."
"Okay... Wait, idiot voice?"
"I'll call you seven times a week."
"That's every day! Once a week is plenty."
"Six."
"Still too much! How about two times a day?"
"Five."
"Three!"
"Last offer—four."
"Fine!"
"Deal!"
We shook hands and laughed. Then we watched the sun dip below the horizon together.
...I already miss her.
Ichika...?
I heard someone calling me.
Let me stay with Rumi a bit longer. Don't pull me out of this moment...
"YAGI ICHIKA! Stop sleeping in the middle of class!"
I jolted awake.
"Uuuuugh~"
I yawned and rubbed my eyes.
"Why are you sleeping during my lesson?" my math teacher asked. She was a strict older lady with streaks of white in her hair.
"Sorry, Sensei... I was working on a miniature Arc Reactor last night. Didn't get enough sleep."
"Oh, so my class is so boring you had to come up with science fiction excuses just to nap, huh? Then solve the problem on the board."
I looked up.
[400,601 – 80,369 = ?]
Simple subtraction. I walked to the board and solved it in seconds.
= 320,232
(Boring...)
I returned to my seat.
"Correct!"
The teacher raised an eyebrow.
"I guess that was too easy. Try this!"
She wrote a multiplication problem:
[9,919 × 12 = ?]
(Is she trying to challenge me now? Let's go.)
= 119,028
"Correct again!" she said, now frowning.
I smirked."Bring it on, Sensei. I'll solve all your problems—except your love life."
"You little—!"
She was definitely irritated now, but she kept throwing harder problems at me.
This continued until the end of class.
By the time we were done, I had solved this beast:
V = π ∫(a to b) [y²] dx → V = π ∫(a to b) [2√(a² + x²)]² dx → V = (16πa³)/3
I was breathing hard.
"Well?!"
"Tch... Correct!" she groaned. "Not bad, kid. But next time, I'm bringing something harder!"
"I'll solve everything you throw at me!" I pointed at her triumphantly.
Suddenly, a classmate raised her hand."Um, Sensei? What about us?"
"...Ah."
She'd completely forgotten the rest of the class.
(Toru's POV)
It's been a week since the new transfer student joined our class.
Yagi Ichika.
He doesn't talk to anyone. His vibe is cold and distant. Every time someone tries to start a conversation, he brushes them off with short replies or silence.
He always sleeps in class.
When I first introduced myself, he barely acknowledged me. Just a few words. That's it.
He's smart—really smart. The teachers are impressed by how advanced he is, but his cold attitude turns a lot of them off. Some of our top-scoring students absolutely hate him now. He overtook them all within days.
Instead of paying attention in class, he reads complicated books—most in English—about support gear, machines, and mechanical design. It's like he's in his own world.
Honestly... he is good-looking. But his personality is just so... distant.
Rumors have been flying around that he's quirkless. Every time someone asks about his quirk, he mocks them or ignores the question. It only makes people madder.
After English class, we changed in the locker room and headed to the gym for PE.
WHISTLE!
"Alright, class!" our PE teacher, Mr. Tanaka, shouted. "We're playing basketball today. Form your teams!"
He was tall and in his 30s, with black hair and brown eyes.
I joined my friends to form a team, but we only had four girls. Not enough.
Meanwhile, Ichika stood alone on the sideline. The boys had all formed teams already, completely ignoring him.
Then, Ichika raised his hand and walked up to the teacher.
"Sensei, I want to play alone."
"Huh?"
Ichika pointed his thumb at the group of boys."Teammates will just slow me down. I'll take on this bunch of losers by myself."
The boys bristled with anger.
Seeing the chance, I walked up to Mr. Tanaka too."Sensei, we're one player short."
"Then he's joining your team."
"What?"
Ichika's expression was frozen in pure shock.
Too bad.
He didn't talk to us at all. Just sat there while we tried to discuss our strategy.
My friends whispered to me, worried.
"Is this team even going to work?"
"He's so arrogant... and antisocial."
"He might ruin everything..."
I smiled awkwardly."Well, at least we have a full team. Let's just play our best."
When our match came, we faced the tallest team in the class—five boys, all grinning smugly.
"Ichika, maybe you should join them instead."
"Yeah, put on a skirt and make it five girls. Haha!"
"The five of you look adorable."
"This'll be easy."
"Let's crush 'em."
My friends were trembling. Ichika looked... terrifyingly calm.
WHISTLE!
The game began. We got possession.
The ball was passed to me. Just as I grabbed it—
"Toru!"
"Huh?!" I gasped.
Ichika... called me by my name?
I blushed—then immediately lost the ball when a guy snatched it from me. While I tried to recover, someone bumped into me hard and I fell.
"Toru, are you okay?!"
My friends rushed to help.
The boy who'd knocked me down looked down at me.
"You were in the way."
Then walked off.
"What a jerk!"
"He totally did that on purpose!"
I stood and brushed off the dust.
"No, I'm fine. I can still play."
I was determined.
But then—Ichika ran across the court and stole the ball from the tall guy just before he could shoot.
"Wha—?!"
With blinding speed, he dashed to the other side.
From half court, he stopped... and launched the ball.
A high arc. Swish.It went in—without touching the rim.
We were speechless.
Next play: Their point guard passed high—but Ichika jumped, intercepted it, and dribbled down again.
He waited for the defense to set, then rushed forward.
Two defenders collapsed on him—but he stopped mid-run, spun, and hit a fadeaway jumper.
Swish.
He didn't even look back.
"Whoa..."
Even the boys he faked out had tears in their eyes from embarrassment.
Final score: 42 – 0.
Ichika didn't let them score once. He barely broke a sweat.
It was complete domination.
(To be continued...)