𓆱❀𓆱

Dust.

Dust thick as smoke still mingled in the air, drifting in waves across the ground. Dust that clung to skin and caked airways with every breath. Gasping. At one time, many coughing voices echoed nearby. Then fewer. Then none.

Silence.

Visible through a tiny crack in the rubble was the bright blue sky. It was a sunny day. The air was warm. Overhead, puffy clouds drifted slowly, slowly, slowly with every breeze. One looked like a frown. The next looked like a flower. The last just looked like a cloud.

It was growing colder. Every breath hurt, every small movement, painful, trapped under the rocks.

What had happened?

Sirens. They wailed from the distance, but slowly, they grew closer. Close.

Here.

People were shouting. The sky darkened.

Nothing.

The sudden screech of the train's breaks pierced through my headphones. My eyes lifted from the floor as the doors hissed open, letting a wave of passengers inside. The ride had been relatively peaceful thus far, but the cabin was growing rapidly crowded. Among those squishing inside was a little old lady, waddling through the crowd, searching for an empty spot on the bench.

I rose quickly from my seat, grabbing one of the overhead rings. "You can sit here."

The old woman's eyes crinkled around her gummy smile. "Why, thank you, dear." She couldn't have been taller than three feet, with a large hooked nose and long pointed ears which poked out from her grey curls. A clawed hand held her burgundy shawl tight around her hunched shoulders as she hopped up onto the seat, yet her inhuman features gained no attention from the other passengers.

Of the Quirk-wielding population, her appearance was pretty subdued. People of all shapes and sizes dotted the train; bright colours and warped proportions painting faces that at one time might have been considered alien, but now were a part of human life.

A sentient blob of green goo sat beside a man with an upside-down head a few spaces down, and that was hardly the oddest thing I'd seen all morning.

"Pardon my asking, young man," the old lady murmured, "Are you attending U.A.?"

Even mentioning the prestigious, internationally-acclaimed school piqued the attention of the other passengers. When I saw their gazes turning my way, I realized she was talking to me.

"You could tell?" I joked, and the old lady laughed along.

I wasn't a "young man," but I didn't like to correct the elderly. Besides, I could understand the mistake. My features were pretty androgynous, and I was tall for a girl. My shoulders filled out padded blazers better than most, and the fact I'd neglected the skirt of the girls' uniform in favour of the pants certainly couldn't help the confusion.

"It's the uniform, young'un," the old lady said. "It's world-famous!" She placed both hands on her cane, smiling eagerly up at me. "So, you're a first year, then?"

I sighed, giving the red uniform tie a tug. I didn't like how it felt woven through my collar, and the many minutes I'd spent trying to fix it this morning had turned out completely pointless. It remained forever crooked. "First time in uniform," I said. "You could tell that, too?"

"I'm a woman of many years!" The old lady winked, waggling her brows. "I have a way of telling these things."

"Really?" I propped my hand on my hips, gesturing to myself. "Then, what department am I in?"

The old woman pursed her wrinkled lips together, eyeing me up and down. "You don't have a defining Quirk look about you... But those hero-course students are always lookers! I'll say it – you're on the path to become a hero, aren't ya!"

"Right again!" I snickered. "You sure you're not a psychic?"

"Oh-ho! You don't need a Quirk for something simple as that!"

"Psst!" There came a hiss from someone at the end of the cabin. A well-dressed businessman was grinning my way, his hand cupped beside his mouth. "Good luck, future hero!"

"Good luck!" chorused a few other passengers.

"Oh, um – Thank you!"

I'd witnessed before the almost micro-celebrity status simply attending U.A. had granted others, but I doubted I would get used to it any time soon. It wasn't the sort of thing I enjoyed – being the centre of attention, – but when your chosen career was heroics, there are certain sacrifices you have to make.

Soon the train slid to a stop, and I stepped out onto the station platform to finish the rest of my commute on foot.

U.A. Academy sat overlooking the small city of Musutafu, Japan. I'd been on campus once before, during the recommendation exams, yet it was still a sight to behold. Big marble busts and colonnades meshed with sleek modern architecture to form training zones, fields, and gyms along with the massive four-tiered main school. All was encircled in a massive wall to prevent anyone without a student or faculty ID from entering, (except on special occasions like the entrance exams).

I walked through the open gate, a brick walkway carrying me beneath big cobalt arches and toward the massive front doors. Rosy pink petals floated with the breeze, shed by the freshly blooming cherry-blossom trees lining the path. Between the trunks stood impressive busts of pro-hero alumnus. Though I recognized none of them, I could recognize the eras as they passed; prominent costumes and styles from the Chaos Age progressing through bronze and silver to today's Golden Age.

When Quirks first began manifesting across the world, everything was thrown into disarray. Vicious discrimination, skyrocketing crime rates; for a time, Earth was lawless. Countries turned their armies inward, and still were razed to the ground by villains straight from comic-books. As the politically powerful felt their grasp on the world start to slip, they came up with a solution:

Government-funded superheroes.

Because nothing could go wrong with that.

Okay, cynicism aside – Heroism worked. With the Symbol of Peace on his pedestal unchallenged for decades, crime rates were never lower. Police are generally useless, and mind-blowing amounts of power and expectations are placed on individuals, but since the development of Quirks, the world hadn't seen this much peace. Hereby dubbed, the Golden Age.

Still, those deep in the system and those old enough to remember the chaos know it is a tentative balance. The minute someone powerful enough to challenge All Might showed up, it would be a steep drop back into that lawless fear. And the duty to pull society back up from the dredges would fall upon heroes alone.

I'd never really liked the flashiness of All Might, but he was the single pillar holding today's society afloat. I shuddered to think what would happen if someone finally challenged him.

And he's what, like, 50 years old? 30+ years of heroism has gotta put some serious ache in the back. I was surprised he hadn't retired yet. Though, according to the rumours, he'd begin teaching at U.A. this semester. Maybe that was his first step toward climbing off the big ol' pedestal.

Once I finally made it through the maze of U.A.'s hallways, my classroom was impossible to miss. The door was easily 5, 6 meters tall and printed with a bold red 1-A.

I paused for a moment, fiddling with my tie.

I'd never gone to school before – let alone had peers my own age. And I was about to step into a room full of them.

Ew.

What are normal teenagers like again? I wouldn't know. I hardly had a life outside of heroics. On the bright side, enrolled in such a prestigious hero course, maybe that wouldn't be so out of place.

Taking a breath to calm my nerves, I gave my tie one more tug, and prepared to greet my future classmates of three years.

"Take your feet off the desk!"

No sooner than I'd pulled the big door open did I wish I was back home. One boy was up from his seat – a straight-laced type, with rectangle glasses high on his prominent nose and every hair of his navy-blue undercut combed and gelled into place. (And, I noticed with a tinge of jealousy, his tie was perfectly straight.)

"Can't you see it's disrespectful to the U.A. upperclassmen and to the people who made the desk!" 'Four-eyes' was gesturing wildly to a boy sitting across from him, splayed in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk. This guy's spiked blonde hair and uniform was tousled, and he hadn't even bothered wearing his tie. Even more upsettingly, his face was contorted with a cruel, full-toothed grin.

"Couldn't give a damn!" he challenged, cocking his head to one side, eyeing the other boy up and down. Clearly, he was eager for some kind of fight.

That struck me as an oddly "villainous" trait, if there was such thing. Then I realized, what better place to pick fights than at a school with a heavy combat course? (For definitely the most fucked up reasons), this kid was right at home.

"Are you in this class?" asked someone from near the door. A girl with skin pink as the cherry blossoms outside sat perched in her chair, grinning up at me.

I nodded, eyes sliding briefly to the bickering boys and back to the girl. "Yep," I said. Unfortunately.

"Well then, nice to meet you!"

"Likewise." I dipped my head in a quick bow and then slipped away to find my seat. My new student ID said I was seat no. 13, which would be... Great. Right next to the blonde, who was still provoking the other kid.

"You went to Somei, huh? So you're a damn elite! I'll have fun tearing you a new one."

The four-eyes startled, his jaw hanging agape. "What vulgar language! Do you truly aspire to be a hero?"

Before the blondie could blow his top, the classroom door slid open once more. A fawn of a boy stood in the entrance, dwarfed by its immense size. His forest green hair fluffed wildly around his freckled face, pale with fear, and wide emerald eyes.

The rest of the students looked to the door, where the newest addition stood frozen like a deer in headlights. Immediately, an unspoken tension settled in the air. Did I miss something? My eyes trailed up the freckle-faced boy as I took my seat. Such tension from such a timid boy? He seemed rather average, both in height and in build. Perhaps on the more muscular side, but it was hard to tell through the thick uniform.

"Good morning!" The four-eyes broke away from the blondie's desk, taking long, marching strides in the direction of the door. "I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida..."

"I heard!" squeaked the new boy, then realizing his interruption had stunned the other, hastily waved his hands this way and that. "Er– I'm Midoriya! N-Nice to meet you, Iida."

I rested my chin on my hand, sighing a soundless hum. So far, my classmates seemed... interesting characters. Annoying, for sure, but perhaps entertaining...?

"Hey." Now that his challenger had left, the blondie seemed eager to find someone else to antagonize. "Hey, I said!" He jabbed his foot against my chair leg, and was glaring daggers when I finally looked over.

"What hole did you crawl out of?" he sneered. "I didn't see you at the practical exam. What place did you come in?"

"I wasn't at the entrance exam," I said, and just as quickly wish I hadn't replied at all. Then there still would've been a chance he'd turn his provocative jeer somewhere else.

"What, so you're from recommendations?" Aggression gnashed the boy's teeth together, contempt burning in his blood-red eyes. He leaned forward like a predator zeroing in on its prey, making a hamfisted attempt at a threat. "Don't get the wrong idea, huh! That doesn't mean shit. I'll knock you off your high horse."

I turned to stare at the blackboard through half-lidded eyes, puffing a clump of hair from my face. "Good luck with that."

"Don't look down on me!" the blondie raged, slamming his hands on his desk. "I'll fucking show you! Watch your back, pointy!"

Pointy. God, who pissed in this guy's corn flakes? I reached for my headphones to cover my ears, pointed at the tip, when a new voice came from the door.

"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends." The classroom stilled, as did I, headphones in hand.

I knew that voice. I scanned the door for it's owner, and when I located him, I audibly sighed. Of course.

Shota Aizawa laid in the hallway just outside the open classroom door, swaddled in a bright yellow sleeping bag. He slipped an energy gel packet in his mouth, (his only source of nutrients), inhaled the contents, then slid to his feet. An obnoxiously bright cocoon. It was hard to believe there was an entire human inside.

"Okay, it took eight seconds before you were quiet," he grumbled. "Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough." Tired dark eyes scanned the class as he unzipped the bag from the inside, shaggy black hair flopping across his shoulders.

"Starting today, I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you..." The could-be-teacher, probably-is-hobo pulled the U.A. gym uniform out from his bag, holding it up for the class to see. "It's a bit sudden, but put this on and meet me on the field."

I rested my head in my hands, heaving an internal groan. I already deal with the guy once a week! As if that isn't enough, I now have him as a homeroom teacher?

That's it, I lamented.

There is no god.

𓆱❀𓆱

2265 words

About the book!!
– Trigger warnings (Such as excessive violence, gore, etc), will be included at the beginning of the chapter they apply to. Please read carefully!

       - This book is marked as mature due to the mature themes (violence and lotssss of trauma) as well as strong language

       - This is an oc insert, but think of the romance as a subplot, not the plot. A slowburn as always, ('cause that's how I roll). I'm still on the fence about the pairing, but the ones I'm debating on usually make it into the tags. If you're curious, keep an eye out!

About me:
       - Unless stated otherwise, all art, including the cover art, is by me! My art instagram is @clemtiness, but I don't really post my wattpad art there rip. (Selfish self-promo because that's what you're supposed to do, right?)
       > If you know me from instagram, or real life, hahahaaa... No you don't <3

       - If you ever want to contact me, both my wattpad and instagram dms are always open! I have a discord, (also @clemtiness) and you're welcome to friend and message me there, too!

Uhhh I think that's everything! This fic has been my little brain child for a while now, so I'm not really expecting it to go anywhere, but I figured I might as well publish it.

Hope you enjoy, and if you do, be sure to comment and/or vote!! I really appreciate it!!

Now, that's it for introductions, so have fun with the story!!