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[Hero Basic Training Class]
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The second day of classes arrived the day after the first.
Everyone was already gathered in the classroom, waiting patiently for their teacher to arrive—either making small talk with the classmates seated nearby or messing around on their phones.
Everyone, save for one person.
—Slam!
The door opened suddenly, and a familiar figure stepped in, drawing most eyes and plunging the class into brief silence.
It was Taka, of course.
'New day, new opportunities to aura farm.'
He let everyone get a good look at him for a second or two, then made his way to his seat—right behind Midoriya, next to Tokoyami, and in front of Yaoyorozu.
-Bzzz-
As he sat down and set his things aside, however, the vibration of his cellphone startled him.
Curious, he took it out, and to his surprise—
{Jiro: Didn't you say you were here 20 minutes earlier? How come you're last again?}
Taka clicked his tongue internally and glanced toward Jiro, who was seated a few rows away and looking at him with a sly smirk.
He quickly typed a reply.
{You: Went to buy something to drink.}
A response came almost instantly.
{Jiro: I didn't see anything in your hands when you came in, though?}
{You: I already drank it}
{Jiro: Just how thirsty were you?}
Jiro was now shooting him a disbelieving look.
Having successfully dodged the question, Taka sighed faintly and put his phone away, leaning back in his chair comfortably.
At least, until a hand lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Excuse me, Takahashi-san."
"Hmm?"
He turned around to see Yaoyorozu sitting there, behind him, looking a bit timid.
'Well, after yesterday's round of aura farming, I guess I'm a tad imposing,' Taka mused for a moment before addressing her.
"What's up?"
His casual response seemed to have lessened her worry, judging by her more comfortable look.
"Well, after what you said yesterday—oh, my apologies!" Her eyes suddenly widened, panic flashing across her face. She bowed faintly from her seat. "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu. I apologize for the late introduction."
Taka sweatdropped faintly. 'Are all rich kids this proper?'
His gaze flicked briefly to Iida, who sat upright in his seat, stiff as a statue and likely waiting for the teacher to arrive.
Quickly, his attention returned to Yaoyorozu, and he offered her a polite nod.
"It's fine. I'm Takahashi Fukumoto. Though you can just call me Taka. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Takahashi-san."
'Another one using my full name,' Taka rolled his eyes—internally.
First Jiro, now Yaoyorozu. He was giving them the chance to save themselves a mouthful.
Only Kirishima had accepted his grace so far.
Well, to each their own.
"So, what were you saying?" Taka asked.
She perked up, her expression turning serious once more. "Yes. I wanted to ask you about what you said yesterday."
'What did I say yesterday?' Taka wondered. A moment later, it clicked, and his expression flattened slightly. "...Is it about the expulsion thing?"
"Yes. You disagreed with me when I said the expulsion threat had been false. If I may ask, why?"
'She's still on that?' Taka stared at her for a moment, speechless.
At the time, he'd only wanted to aura farm a bit by acting mysterious.
But since she was still curious about it—even after his edgy exit yesterday without an answer—he supposed he could explain. It wasn't like he'd lied, after all.
"Well, I'm pretty sure he actually expelled the current second-years when they entered."
Yaoyorozu looked genuinely shocked.
"What?!"
But that exclamation hadn't come from her.
The startled voice of someone outside the conversation cut in, catching both of them off guard. They turned slightly to see Midoriya leaning toward them, eyes wide with panic.
Only after realizing they had heard him—and were now staring at him, along with everyone else who'd been startled by his shout—did he panic and turn back around.
"Ah, sorry!"
'This guy sure has a long way to go,' Taka smiled wryly at Midoriya's quick-to-panic nature.
His mind immediately drifted to the arc where the guy went all edgy and serious. That was when he really began aura farming properly.
Of course, he had a few memorable moments before that, but only after that point did he become a more thorough fighter—and a more consistent aura farmer.
For now, though, there was still a long way to go before that happened.
'Over a year,' Taka snorted.
It wasn't actually that long, now that he thought about it. If anything, it just showed how absurd this year was going to be, with all the bad stuff crammed into a single stretch of time.
'Well, I'm gonna be here this time… I should be able to turn a few bad things around,' Taka thought, recalling the scale of certain events to come—and the repercussions they'd have on everyone involved.
Now that he was here, though, he could make sure those things didn't happen.
And while he was at it, aura farm. Because it was never a bad time to aura farm.
Having established his priorities, Taka turned back to Yaoyorozu, who was still looking oddly at Midoriya's already-turned-back figure.
"Anyway, you can ask them yourself after class."
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much." Yaoyorozu nodded faintly as she turned back to him.
With the conversation coming to an end, Taka faced forward again.
Not because he didn't know what else to say—but because an aura farmer must be silent and cool… yes.
As he resumed his silent, meditative pose, the classroom door suddenly opened, and his eyes snapped open, a smirk forming on his face.
'Finally, here he is… All Mig—'
"HELL YEAAAAH! WHAT'S UP, STUDENTS?!"
Taka pursed his lips as the one who burst through the door turned out to be Present Mic—not All Might.
Only then did he remember the curriculum Aizawa had handed them yesterday.
'Right… that class was in the afternoon.'
Sweatdropping at his mistake, he sighed faintly.
It seemed the aura farming would have to wait a few more hours.
…
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| U.A. Afternoon… |
…
"I miscalculated," Taka muttered as he slammed his head onto the desk.
Mentally, of course.
When he'd planned to enroll in U.A., he'd only thought about all the moments where he'd be able to aura farm.
What he'd completely glossed over was the fact that it was, first and foremost, an actual school.
Alright—he hadn't really forgotten. He just hadn't paid it much mind.
Now, however, he was facing the harsh truth.
The show had focused only on the interesting parts, conveniently skipping over the long, boring classes that naturally came with a school setting—and with the main cast being students.
Don't get him wrong, he wasn't bad at studying. He'd worked like hell alongside his clones to get good grades, which he did.
But he definitely wasn't some prodigy.
So whenever a teacher asked a question, he sweated bullets worrying he'd answer wrong—and lose aura in the process.
Fortunately, so far, he'd managed to answer everything correctly.
But that brought up another problem.
Besides aura farming in clutch moments, he'd also have to worry about not screwing up during the downtime from now on.
'And for an entire year…' Taka sighed.
As always, the path of the aura farmer was never easy.
Still, he had finally made it through the whole day.
And along with it, the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
"I AM—!"
Taka's head lifted, and he glared toward the classroom entrance as a sly glint appeared in his eyes.
"—COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
Along with the shout, the massive figure of a man stepped into the classroom—no smaller than Titaniphite, but all muscle instead of rock.
His wide smile and imposing presence immediately filled the room with awe, most—if not all—of the students gaping at the hero's appearance.
Of course, save for Taka, who merely glanced at All Might with an analytical gaze.
'Well, well, well, if it isn't my errand boy.. And of course, the biggest aura farmer of our time.'
While Taka liked to joke about him being his errand boy, the truth was that if there was anyone worth learning about aura dynamics from, it was this man.
The one and only.
The Symbol of Peace.
A hero so powerful and influential that a single smile could calm the hearts of everyone watching, no matter how dire the situation.
A single phrase of his could instill hope in some hearts, and fear in others.
And a single punch could erase all evil or protect all good.
Not to mention that, powers or not, he could aura farm just fine. The man, far in the future as per the show, fought the world-ending villain using nothing but a high-tech suit—his body wrecked by old injuries, and his powers long gone.
And to top it all off, he laughed his ass off in the villain's face.
If that wasn't aura, then he didn't know what it was.
Albeit, he and other students ended up in a pretty shit condition after the battle.
'Well, things won't need to go that far with me here,' Taka snorted, closing his eyes for a brief moment.
—Only to open them again a second later, determination blazing in his gaze.
'Now, show me what you've got, All Might.'
While Taka was taking this far too seriously, All Might had already reached the teacher's podium. He stood before the class with both fists on his waist, his wide smile radiating warmth.
"Good day, ladies and gentlemen! I teach Hero Basic Training. Here, you'll train in different ways to learn the fundamentals of being a hero—and it'll be the subject you spend the most hours on as heroes in training."
The class nodded almost in unison, completely taken in by his presence.
"Having said that—let's get straight into it!"
He flexed, apparently pulling something from his pocket in a stylish motion before flashing it toward the class.
"What we'll be doing today… is this!"
All eyes snapped to the object in his hand, and the moment the students recognized it, excited murmurs spread through the room.
There, held between his fingers, was a card.
One that read "Battle."
"COMBAT TRAINING!" All Might announced, just in case anyone hadn't seen it. Then he whipped his arm toward the adjacent wall. "And to go with that, we have THESE!"
Several compartments began sliding out from the wall, revealing boxes numbered from one to twenty.
All Might's smile widened, focusing back on the students. "Costumes based on your Quirk registrations and the requests you submitted before school started."
The instant the word costumes left All Might's mouth, excitement exploded throughout the class. Everyone wanted to see how their costumes had turned out and, of course, try them on.
'He really knows how to handle a crowd,' Taka thought silently as he observed the surrounding reaction and All Might's theatrics, rubbing his chin.
Still, he did not ignore the mention of the costumes, his gaze instantly settling on the number 19.
'Let's see if they did it as I asked… Or if I'm gonna have to kill someone today.'
…
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| Minutes later… |
…
All Might stood before the entrance to Ground Beta, patiently awaiting the arrival of his students.
As he waited, his mind drifted back to the moment he had presented himself to the class.
Before that, Nezu had told him he would find a very interesting student among them. Curious, he had reviewed everyone's Quirks beforehand—save for young Midoriya's.
While several of them had shown promising potential, none had truly stood out as someone Nezu would go out of his way to point out.
At least, that had been the case—
Until he stepped into the classroom.
The moment he crossed the door, he felt it, the piercing gaze of one of the students.
Amid all the other excited stares, this other one could have easily gone unnoticed. Yet the presence that the student emanated made it impossible to ignore.
The gaze didn't hold hostility—but it certainly wasn't pleasant, either.
If he had to describe it… It reminded him of the gaze Endeavor used to direct at him during their years at U.A.
But in this student's eyes, there was something Endeavor's glare had never possessed.
Certainty.
Whatever the student had been thinking as he stared at him, there hadn't been a single ounce of doubt behind it.
"Hm…"
Humming thoughtfully, All Might opened his teacher's folder and scanned through the class list until he found the photo attached to that presence.
"Takahashi Fukumoto. Quirk: Muscle to Mind."
Yes, he had seen it earlier, and he had considered it a Quirk with solid potential.
But now, having met him… perhaps there was something more to this boy.
Smiling faintly, All Might closed the folder and looked ahead.
'Well,' he thought, 'this is the perfect chance to find out, isn't it?'
His bright blue eyes shone with interest as figures began emerging from the shadows of the entrance.
Clearing his throat, he raised his voice to address the approaching students. "They say clothes make the man, young men and ladies—and that applies here just the same."
Class 1-A stepped into the light, the vibrant and flashy colors of their hero suits blending together into an impressive sight.
All Might's smile widened.
"Now that you're wearing those outfits, be fully aware that from this moment on…" He paused for effect. "—you are Heroes!"
Chins lifted proudly across the group, the title accepted with a mix of nervousness and reverence.
Soon, however, another figure emerged from behind—clearly late compared to the rest.
All Might's eyes narrowed slightly.
A moment later, the student stepped into the light, revealing—
"Did I make it in time?"
—Midoriya, clad in a Bugs Bunny–like suit.
All Might nearly choked at the sight, immediately recognizing the inspiration.
'So obvious…' He struggled not to laugh.
With everyone finally gathered, the students began glancing at one another's costumes, excitement and competitiveness rising in equal measure.
Everyone wanted their suit to be praised—and everyone wanted to see what choices the others had made.
But as they chatted about designs and possible future adjustments, another sound echoed from the darkened entrance.
—Step.
A single footfall, calm and measured, yet somehow loud enough that nearly everyone heard it.
Immediately, all eyes turned toward the source. The dark hallway where they had all come from.
And from within it, they could all see it. A figure was approaching, his pace deliberate and almost regal.
Instantly, everyone knew who it was, and all focus centered on it.
And soon, the figure stepped into the light—
—or rather, it felt as though the shadows followed him out.
Unlike the vivid colors of the others—save for one student in particular—this one stood in stark contrast to the bright day. A dark coat, a stylish yet strangely savage-looking black tricorn hat, and a mask covering everything up to his nose, plus many garments that only added to the edginess.
IMAGE ->
As he made his entrance, reactions rippled through the group.
A certain raven-headed student nodded in quiet acknowledgment.
A certain earphone-jack–earlobbed student deadpanned, muttering something about someone being right behind her—and somehow still managing to arrive last again.
A certain red-haired student's eyes sparkled, mumbling about manliness and whatnot.
A certain explosive blond clicked his tongue in annoyance.
And a certain white-and-red-haired student… stoically ignored it.
<[+50 aura!]>
'Yes, yes, I look quite awesome, I know.'
Taka had arrived.
…
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: There we go, another chapter, and finally getting to the combat exercise.
I had some free time and managed to write a chapter. Might be able to come up with a chapter for tomorrow as well, or not, who knows?
Anyway, see you next chap)