The subway swayed gently along the tracks as Ryo Tanaka sat there, leaning back against the rigid seat, his brand-new U.A. uniform contrasting with his usual indifferent stare. He scrolled through his phone with his thumb, unhurried. Another headline, another exaggerated rumor, another "exclusive leak."
"IS ALL MIGHT CONFIRMED AS A U.A. TEACHER?!"
"A NEW ERA OF HERO EDUCATION BEGINS TODAY!"
"LUCKY STUDENTS WILL MEET THE SYMBOL OF PEACE IN THE CLASSROOM!"
Ryo let out a low, bored grunt.
"Again with this…" he muttered, tossing his phone into his backpack and zipping it closed.
He leaned back, letting his head fall against the hard rest. Above him, several hands clung to the overhead bars—hurried workers, some chatting, others wearing headphones. Nobody paid him any attention, and he preferred it that way. His gaze drifted across the mix of people in suits, cheap hoodies, and casual clothes. He was the only student there.
Ryo clicked his tongue.
"I really hope the first day isn't crap."
The announcement tone echoed through the carriage, signaling the next station. The doors opened and the crowd moved instantly. Ryo stood, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and stepped out, riding the escalators up from the underground until he emerged at street level.
The street buzzed with movement. Cars, chatter, street vendors, tall buildings reflecting the morning light. As he walked along the sidewalk, he began noticing others wearing the same uniform he was. Unfamiliar faces—some nervous, others excited. Groups talking animatedly about their quirks and expectations.
Ryo didn't approach anyone. He just adjusted his backpack and kept walking.
And then he saw it.
The imposing U.A. gate—far too big for any normal school—standing there like a visual landmark impossible to ignore. He had passed through it during the entrance exam, but now… now it felt more real, heavier.
Ryo stopped. Watched the stream of students walking in. Looked up at the colossal, spotless building, the wide hallways visible through the windows.
He stood still for a few seconds.
"…Yeah. I wanna go home," he muttered, not bothering to hide his disappointment.
Something about that place bothered him. A subtle pressure in his chest, a feeling of threat. As if the whole experience had been designed to go wrong. As if he were stepping onto the exact kind of stage where big problems would unfold.
But the thought was abruptly cut off when someone bumped into his shoulder.
"Ah—! Sorry, man!" the person said in English, voice fast and nervous.
Ryo turned just enough to see a blond boy with blue eyes, a backpack slung over his shoulders, a phone in one hand. The boy waved quickly with his free hand as he hurried past.
"Thanks—bye again, Dad!" he shouted over his shoulder to a man in the distance who waved back.
Then he rushed toward the building like he was racing against time.
Ryo watched him for two seconds.
"…Weird," he commented, flatly.
Then he looked back at the gigantic building in front of him. He was registered under his usual fake name—Rito Takeda—and he hoped he could stay invisible just like he had in every other school.
He took one last deep breath at the gate, tightened his grip on his backpack strap… and finally stepped inside.
"Here we go," he murmured. "I chose this mess. Now I have to see where it leads."
And so, he took the first step into the path he had carved for himself—though a part of him desperately wished he could go home and forget all of this…
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Ryo walked down the bright hallway of U.A., the white walls reflecting the sunlight pouring in through the wide windows. The silence there was strange; the only sounds were the echo of his own footsteps and, occasionally, a distant voice from another class. He walked slowly, his tired eyes drifting over the nameplates on each door until he found the one he was looking for:
1-A.
He stopped. Stared at the door.
It was huge.
Ridiculously huge.
"What kind of people walk in here…?" he muttered, frowning. "Looks like they built this crap for an ogre."
It was as if the school expected a titan to join the hero course. But Ryo pushed the door open anyway. The dense wood slid aside with a soft click.
Inside, several students were already scattered among the desks. Some chatted excitedly, others seemed to observe whoever entered. But Ryo didn't pay attention to anyone — because the thing that caught his eye immediately was a desk in the far corner, pressed against the wall, a little isolated. The perfect promise of social peace.
A small, tired smile tugged at his lips.
"Perfect."
He walked over as if complaining about life with every step — and he probably was, at least in his head. He dropped his backpack on the floor, threw himself into the chair, and crossed his arms on the desk, leaning forward to sleep.
"Think I'll take a nap… until the teacher shows up," he murmured, already closing his eyes.
At least for about twenty seconds, because a light tap on his shoulder made him frown.
He ignored it.
Another tap.
Then another.
And then several quick, insistent taps — like a literal woodpecker attacking his shoulder.
Ryo turned his head, irritation sharp in his eyes.
"Who…?"
It was the rushed blond guy from the gate. Dash. He looked worried, his hands slightly raised.
"Sorry! Seriously, I'm really sorry!" the blond said quickly. "You weren't answering, so I thought you'd died or something!"
Ryo inhaled slowly before replying — in fluent English, which made Dash's eyes widen.
"I get it. What do you want?" he asked bluntly.
"AH! You speak English!" Dash practically exploded with relief and joy. "Dude, thank God! I thought I'd have to try speaking Japanese all day! I still mix up some sounds, so no one understands me, and—"
Ryo made a tired grimace.
"Yeah, yeah, I only learned English because I had private lessons when I was seven."
Dash opened a huge grin.
"That's awesome! Wanna be my friend?"
Ryo stared at him for a few seconds, completely expressionless. Then he raised an eyebrow.
"No," he said, in the most direct and sincere way possible. "We barely know each other. And I was sleeping."
And he simply turned his head away and laid down on the desk again.
Dash remained there for a moment, absolutely shocked… and then tried again.
"But… but we can get to know each other! Like, we can talk now? Or later? Or sit together during breaks? I can—"
"No," Ryo repeated, without opening his eyes.
Dash sighed, but didn't leave. He sat in the chair next to him, clearly determined to keep talking even while being ignored.
Ryo shifted, annoyed.
"Great… the day's already getting worse…" he muttered to himself.
But the universe heard him. And laughed in his face.
"Take your feet off the desk! That's completely against classroom etiquette!"
"Shut up, four-eyes! I'll sit however the hell I want!"
Ryo slowly raised his face, his stomach sinking as he recognized one of the voices perfectly.
A few desks ahead, Bakugo — the same blond demon from middle school, only stronger and even angrier — was arguing with a boy with dark-blue hair and perfect posture.
Ryo dragged a hand down his face.
"…You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, defeated. "Of all the classes possible… it had to be this one?"
He knew Bakugo had passed — the exam scoreboard made that obvious — but being in the same class was another story. Almost a cruel joke from fate.
"It can't get worse… right?" he thought, already knowing it was a terrible phrase.
The answer came instantly.
The door slid open.
And Izuku Midoriya rushed in, hugging his backpack to his chest, looking around with that typical nervous expression.
Ryo froze. His expression turned to stone — a mix of shock and absolute dread.
Dash, who was still talking to himself beside him, finally noticed.
"Uh… hey, bro? You good?"
Ryo stayed motionless, staring at Midoriya like someone seeing a ghost from a past he wished stayed buried.
Because now it was official.
This day was going to be awful for Ryo.
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The chaotic chatter inside Class 1-A came to an abrupt halt when a dragged-out, bored, dry voice sliced through the atmosphere.
"You're being way too loud this early in the morning…"
The entire class froze.
Aizawa Shota, wrapped in his traditional sleeping bag like a caterpillar too tired to exist, stood in the doorway. His messy hair and deep eye bags made it look like he'd crawled out of a grave just seconds before appearing there.
A short-haired pink girl murmured:
"But shouldn't he… dress like a teacher?"
Bakugo snorted.
"What the hell is this? Is this guy really from U.A.?"
Iida immediately straightened his posture, almost snapping his spine from so much rigid formality.
"Professor! The class apologizes for not being properly organized to receive your presence! I take full responsibility and—"
"Shut up," Aizawa said without even looking at him. "I haven't started giving orders yet."
Iida froze like a powered-off robot.
Dash whispered to Ryo:
"I didn't understand a word he said, but this guy looks pretty tough…"
Ryo didn't even move, only slowed his breathing as if something inside him had gone dark.
Aizawa dragged the sleeping bag to the front of the room and dropped it on the floor as if it were extremely valuable trash.
"Well…" he scratched his face in boredom, "…you're this year's Class 1-A. If you're always this noisy, it's going to be hell for me."
He then pulled a U.A. PE uniform from inside the sleeping bag, presenting it to the class — who was still processing everything.
"But before anything else," he said, expression completely dead, "we're starting with a fitness test. Put on these PE uniforms and meet me on the field in five minutes."
"Five minutes?!" Kaminari yelped, practically jumping out of his seat.
"Don't complain," Aizawa continued. "Heroes don't have time to whine."
Bakugo stood up, a ferocious grin spreading across his face.
"Finally, something interesting."
Midoriya swallowed hard, trying to find courage.
"T-this is gonna be like… a surprise test…?"
Dash threw his hands up.
"Man, I'm not getting any of this! Translate what they're saying for me…"
Aizawa turned his back.
"You now have four and a half minutes."
The door closed behind him.
The room exploded into instant chaos — chairs scraping, students tripping over each other as they tried to figure out which way to run.
Dash tugged lightly on the sleeve of Ryo's hoodie:
"Come on, man! Everyone's going somewhere and I need a guide!"
Ryo let out a long, heavy sigh, stood up like someone accepting their miserable fate, and followed the flow of the class — all while wishing the day would just end already.
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It took a few minutes for the entire Class 1-A to change into their gym uniforms and gather in the field, forming a reasonably organized line.
"Each of you will undergo a Quirk apprehension test. I know it's a bit sudden, but if you want to become heroes, we don't have time for entrance ceremonies or other unnecessary activities. So I'll be direct. I'll test and analyze each of your quirks through simple exercises," Aizawa explained, pulling out something that looked like a smartphone from his pocket.
"Takeda, you placed first in the practical exam, right? What was the farthest distance you managed to throw a softball back in middle school?" Aizawa asked, tossing a ball that Ryo caught in the air, drawing the class's attention to Rito.
Ryo looked at the ball in front of him in silence and answered bluntly:
"Sixty-one meters, I think."
"Tch… only sixty-one meters?" someone muttered under their breath.
Aizawa let out a small sigh.
"Try again, but use your quirk this time."
Ryo raised an eyebrow, staring at the teacher.
"Seriously? You want me to use my quirk for real?"
"Yes. With everything you've got." Aizawa confirmed, holding the smartphone.
Ryo sighed, preparing himself. Dash patted his back, trying to be friendly:
"Go all out, man. Show them what you can do!"
Ryo made a displeased face, almost irritated by the invasion of personal space, but quickly ignored it. He walked to the center of the mark on the ground, his evergreen eyes fixed on the ball.
He activated his Inertial Transition. A subtle green glow began to emanate from his body, his sclera darkening, his pupils shining intensely as his inner inergy strengthened every muscle to a superhuman degree.
"I'll try to control myself better this time…"
Ryo threw the ball with such force that his movement looked like a blur. The sound of the ball breaking the sound barrier echoed across the field.
A wave of wind swept across the area, making everyone step back and shield their faces from the strong gust. The ball vanished among the clouds, leaving only a visible hole where it had passed through. The class stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it.
Aizawa checked his device and, after a few minutes, showed the distance to the class:
17,034 meters.
"…That's insane! It probably landed in another prefecture!" Kirishima exclaimed, impressed.
"I knew he was strong based on the rankings, but this is too much…" Kaminari muttered, trying to force a smile.
"Tch! I can clearly do better!" Bakugo snapped, grinding his teeth.
Ryo returned to the line, indifferent, ignoring Dash who was still hyped beside him:
"Dude… how does your quirk work? Like, that weird green aura. Your eyes turning green and black—"
Rito shot him a brief look and chose to ignore it, returning to his relaxed posture.
The rest of the class, however, was divided between excitement and caution. Some were eager to test their own quirks, while others stayed quiet, like Momo, Todoroki, Iida… and Midoriya, lost in thought, trying to remember where he had heard the name "Rito Takeda" before. But his concentration was cut short by Aizawa's voice:
"Are you going to keep this attitude the whole time?" Aizawa interrupted with a dark look in his eyes, making the rest of the class fall silent instantly.
"Do you really think this place is a playground where you can fool around? Some of you may feel confident in your abilities, but I won't tolerate mistakes or games. This is not a space for useless displays of power. So this will be the deal: whoever ends up in last place, across all eight tests combined, will be deemed incompetent and punished with expulsion," he announced, shocking part of the class.
Aizawa ran a hand through his hair as he looked at them with tired eyes and a threatening smile.
"Welcome to U.A.'s hero course."
With the announcement of possible expulsion, the atmosphere around the class changed drastically. Enthusiasm and excitement were quickly replaced by a crushing weight. Some students swallowed hard, others began to sweat cold. For many, the idea of being expelled before the end of the first day of school was simply unimaginable.
"This is a joke, right…?" Kaminari murmured, his confidence crumbling under Aizawa's serious expression.
"It doesn't look like it," Tsuyu replied, her eyes carefully observing the teacher. "He doesn't seem like he's lying…"
Aizawa watched their expressions and let out another tired sigh.
"Fear is a powerful tool. Use it to your advantage, or you'll be crushed by the weight of expectations. Now, let's begin the tests."
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The physical tests began one after another, and it quickly became obvious to Class 1-A who the two undisputed "monsters" of the group were.
First Test: 50-Meter Dash.
Dash was already fidgeting on the starting line, his foot tapping against the ground like a drum. The moment the signal went off, the blond simply vanished in a golden blur, moving so fast that the electronic sensor… didn't register anything.
The machine beeped, flickered, rebooted — and nothing.
"Did it glitch?" Aizawa blinked slowly.
Dash appeared on the other side, giggling.
"WOW! I think I was too fast!"
Ryo ran right after him. He was fast — extremely fast — but still within what the machine could track:
0.9 seconds.
"You're kidding…" Kaminari muttered, stunned.
Second Test: Endurance Run.
The track had barely been introduced when Dash had already completed 27 laps, as if he were just going for a stroll.
Ryo kept his own pace, not surpassing Dash but surpassing absolutely everyone else on the field with his speed of over 200 km/h.
"He… doesn't even look like he's trying," Momo commented, confused.
"Neither does he!"
Mina pointed at Dash, who zoomed past her for the hundredth time, shouting:
"I'M JUST WARMING UP!"
Bakugo clenched his teeth so hard he nearly cracked his jaw.
"Two show-offs… tch!"
Third Test: Side Steps and Long Jump.
Dash moved so fast it looked like there were three versions of him at once. In the long jump, nobody even saw him jump — he simply cleared the entire sandbox in an instant. His classmates started clapping, unsure if they had just witnessed technique… or pure insanity.
Fourth Test: Strength.
Ryo grabbed the device calmly… and the machine crumpled like cardboard in his hands, letting out a sad crunch.
Ryo froze.
"Ah… I'm gonna have to pay for that, aren't I?"
"If it's broken due to quirk usage, the school covers it," Aizawa replied automatically, already writing something on his clipboard. "But please try not to destroy the rest."
Fifth Test: Ball Throw.
Dash went first. He spun his arm so fast it looked like a propeller, and when he threw the ball, it cut through the air with a soft boom — landing 794 meters away.
But Dash didn't look very impressed with the result.
"That's my limit? I was hoping to pull off something like that Rito guy…"
While the two monsters kept demolishing every test, Midoriya looked like he was mentally imploding with pressure.
The boy stepped up for the throw, hands trembling. Aizawa was already watching him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Midoriya threw — and nothing happened. The teacher erased his quirk for a moment and scolded him harshly.
Ryo stared at the green-haired boy with a hint of pity. He honestly didn't believe Midoriya would pass this assessment — after all, what could someone quirkless possibly do?
Midoriya took a deep breath, fighting the fear… and then tried again.
And that's when the explosion of energy sent the ball flying so far that several students were left gaping. The monitor displayed the distance, and the class burst into cheers.
Ryo froze on the spot.
"…What?"
He looked at Midoriya with a mixture of confusion and genuine surprise.
Up to that moment, Ryo had been absolutely sure the green-haired boy didn't have a quirk. He had seen him be treated as quirkless. He had heard it. He had watched it.
So why…?
"Did he always have that? Did he hide it throughout all of middle school?"
Ryo had no answers — but that was the second time Izuku Midoriya had managed to surprise him.