"Dude…You have to tell us how the hell you did that!" Denki Kaminari nudged Kenshi as he, Iida and Uraraka entered the observation room to debrief while Bakugo was being looked over in the Nurse's office.
"Uraraka, that was awesome! Where'd you get the idea to throw ceiling tiles and use a pillar as a baseball bat." Mina said with a massive grin as she and some of the others crowded around the pair for details.
It was the clearing of All-Might's throat that finally got their attentions and had the spectators back in line when they remembered where they were. "Now, now…I know that their bout was something impressive but you need to remain focused on the lesson." All-Might mentioned as he got everyone back on track. "Now then, who can tell me the positives and the negatives from that last match?"
It was no surprise for anyone to note that Momo Yaoyorozu was the first to raise her hand; "If it is a matter of the roles then Yoshiyasu and Iida were the ones who stuck to it the most but in terms of actual merit from what was meant to be followed in this class; It was only Iida that followed the lesson to the utmost degree."
This brought out a lot of confusion with the others as they heard Momo talking. "Wait…But Uraraka was the one who caught the weapon and Yoshiyasu was the one who DQ'd Bakugo by knocking him through a wall." Sero pointed out as he looked to Momo. "They managed to complete the task so how come only Iida gets the credit?"
Momo shook her head and maintained her serious face as she listed off what she saw. "That was because you were looking at things from outside of the lesson's purpose: Uraraka DID allow them to win by touching the weapon but she also compromised herself by getting distracted when she was trying to maintain a stealthy approach…If that was a real scenario then she put herself and any potential hostages at great risk. Not to mention that she exposed herself to what would be dangerous criminals or villains."
Tsuyu nodded as she lightly tapped her cheek and gave Uraraka an apologetic kero. "I mean, if she puts it like that then it does make sense why that wouldn't pan out."
"As for Yoshiyasu, while he did act commendably in keeping Bakugo distracted while Uraraka could progress onward…It was still dangerous to allow things to escalate as they did rather than acting quickly and concisely, both of them were so caught up in their own personal fight that they nearly destroyed the structure from the ground floor: Bakugo with his explosion and Yoshiyasu with his strength to demolish the structure…"
The others mumbled in slight agreement once they actively looked at the whole thing outside of the Awesome Factor, "To be fair in Yoshiyasu's defence…." Jiro decided to at least vouch. "Bakugo was the more dangerous one out of the two, though he was more focused on trying to beat the crap out of Yoshiyasu…"
"Needless to say; Iida has been capable of taking control, acting as needed and took precautions to ensure that if anyone showed up then they'd have difficulties." Yaoyorozu summarised as she saw Iida slowly swell with pride that he was able to follow through as instructed.
"Well…I guess you've covered most of my notes but Young Iida could have been a little more flexible in his thinking while conducting himself, which is why you all need to take these lessons to heart…Don't dwell on past failings or on what could have been, merely acknowledge them and use those experiences to enhance your repertoire for the future." All-Might detailed with his idea of pepping everyone up. "Now we can move on to our other tests and ensure everyone here is able to demonstrate what they got."
As those words reinvigorated the students and got them pumped up, it seemed to make Kenshi feel a little more at ease knowing that he at least did well and not reprimanded for going too far, though it did leave a lingering thought in the back of his head and a mental note to talk to All-Might later.
It seemed like everyone was taking notes of each person that went in and each person seemed to pass or at least be able to earn merits in All-Might's eyes; He gave credit based on their ingenuity or their creativity regardless of if Heroes won or not, though he did make sure to point out fixable faults and what he saw as potential problems such as Sero's lack of energy, Aoyama's desire to have the spotlight mixed with Mina's overly excitable approach…And giving Mineta a rather brief but equally cautious talk about "Appropriate Hero Conduct" during his teamup with Momo.
By the time that they entered the home room to round off the day which consisted of Aizawa handing out their class schedules, he also brought out a box to bring up with the rest of the class. "Alrighty, now that you kids know what you'll be going into…Your last task is to pick out a Class President and a Vice President." He explained with a more tired tone as he definitely looked like his batteries were running out.
"We…We actually have something normal to do at school?" Kenshi thought to himself as the others started to sound interested at the prospect but noticed that Bakugo had been unusually quiet as he sat at his desk.
Ever since Bakugo had been discharged by Recovery Girl, he had a lot to think about and even moreso when he had a video feed to watch the others go about their combat class. Each new teamup and fight made it abundantly clear that everyone had their spot earned at UA, though that didn't mean he was going to say it out loud.
Every student quickly put in their votes with varying levels of confidence while Aizawa sucked on another juice pack before Mineta finished up with his vote. "Okay, so looks like we have…" He muttered to himself as he read through the sheets that people gave him and finally tallied up the numbers. "So we have Yoshiyasu for First place and Yaoyorozu in Second, so you now have your President and Vice."
Everyone seemed to fine with that particular vote but not entirely surprised that things went this way, though the next part really confused people and simultaneously stopped Bakugo from having an aneurysm at the same time.
"Actually, can I pass?" Kenshi asked as he raised his hand and then looked to Aizawa; "I know it sounds dumb but I'm not really Class Pres material, can I vouch for Iida to take over?"
"You can do whatever as long as you pick someone, you guys can go home now classes are over." Aizawa halfheartedly shrugged it off as he zipped up his sleeping bag right as the bell sounded.
Needless to say that a lot of people left with plenty to talk about as UA filed out for the day; Kirishima started to try being pals with Bakugo while Mineta was trying and failing to flirt with the girls from his class or in general, Kenshi on the other hand was quietly making his way outside when he found himself checking his phone for any messages since most of last period was everyone sharing numbers with each other with different ideas.
Iida's rationale was that they could use this for class and school purposes.
Mina's logic was so every friend group could talk and have a group chat.
Kaminari and Mineta used this as way to try getting into private messages with the girls but the only success that they got was successfully blocked from sending PMs.
You have now been invited to: Class 1A's Group Chat
Iida (Class President):Greetings Fellow UA Classmates, I have requested for Miss Ashido to make this chatroom for class arrangements and school related talk.
Momo Yaoyorozu (Class VP): Has now joined the Chat
So far it looked like no one was answering this one yet barring the joining messages but after looking a little further down, Kenshi saw another message link and clicked on it.
You have now joined: Hooray for 1A Group Chat!
Mina:So yeah, this is for where we can all hang out for non-School stuff :)
Yoshiyasu: Has now joined the Chat
Mina: Heeeeey Yoshiyasu! Welcome to the funnest group chat in 1A!
Yoshiyasu: I was wondering why my phone buzzed all the way out of the door.
Kirishima: Yo Yo! Howzit? You did awesome in that Combat class!
Tsu: I see you got the invite too, well done today, Ken-chan
Iida: Ashido! Please properly rename this Chatroom, this will just confuse everyone on how to properly talk about school related topics.
Iida: Hello as well, Yoshiyasu. You've performed exceptionally in the Combat Test.
Kenshi noticed that everyone was getting used to the casual chat but decided to let them talk more as he pocketed his phone, he needed to make sure he got the train schedule right as he began the trek home and he felt a little awkward at being noticed let alone made the centre of attention.
"COW BOY!" Bakugo yelled as it was him at the gate waiting for him, the noticeably aggravated boy having something on his mind. "Don't think that anything's changed after today!"
"What, the part where I'm still here or the fact that everyone here has a good Quirk?"
"They can have candy shoot out of their ass for all I care, no one here can ever match what I have on offer!" Bakugo bragged as he cracked his fingers. "I said it before and I'll say it again! Only I have what it takes to become the best Pro-Hero there is!"
"Wow…His head is really stuck high up there…" Kenshi thought as he then decided to not rise to Bakugo's posturing, he knew that arguing wouldn't help anything. "Sure you do." He remarked as he started to walk past the bully with nothing more than just a stiff comment.
"What? You actually think that you have a say in all this just because you complained to that tired eyed jerk that "Oh woe is me, I'm too strong to function" and now you think that fluke of a fight earlier makes you look cool in front of everyone?" Bakugo sneered as he kept trying to poke at him while he walked away. "You're nowhere in the same league as me, I could beat the snot out of you any day I want, which I did! And it'll just prove the same thing: That you are nothing compared to me."
"You know, Uraraka's right, you really do have problems." Kenshi admitted as he turned to face Bakugo. "We're not in middle school anymore, Bakugo…And more importantly, you're not the only talent in school. You think exploding makes you stand out; How about that quiet guy in the white suit, he can make fire and ice…Or what about that pink haired girl with the horns? She can melt through stuff with her acid."
"What's your point in this, Hillfolk?" Bakugo growled as he was slowly getting more and more irritated by Kenshi talking back at him.
"Point is: You were a big fish in a little pond back at Aldera…Now the pond's just gotten bigger and you're not the only one swimming around anymore." Kenshi pointed out; "No one's gonna treat you special because everyone's going for the top, that includes me."
"If you got some shit to talk then spit it out already, you trash." Bakugo spat as he noticed the quiet confidence around Kenshi and it really made him angry to see. His anger finally reaching it's peak as he finally decided to bite back; "Because guess what? I already know all that!" He yelled as he clenched his fist tight. "That stuck up ponytailed yapper pointed that out multiple times about my fuckups and I'm not blind! I saw everyone else doing their thing ON TOP of having to come to terms that I lost…to you!" He snapped as he finally had angry tears in his eyes just from having to admit that Kenshi was at least partially accurate.
"At least he's admitting it…" Kenshi thought to himself as he let Bakugo get this out of his system, knowing that it wouldn't help if he said anything right now.
"So enjoy that win while you can, Cow Dung! Because I'll beat everyone to the top! And your ass will be the first one that I'll knock to the dirt no matter what kind of shitty Quirk that you have!" Bakugo yelled as he finally decided to back things off and stomped out of the gate to make his way home, not noticing the few people watching from afar or at least not caring that much at that point.
"YOUNG BAKUGO! I HAVE FOUND-Wha?" All-Might declared as he flipped out of the window and landed in the courtyard but stopped when he noticed that Bakugo was gone by the time he landed. "Oh…That's a shame, I'd have hoped to say something to try uplifting his spirits and ignite a more lighthearted competitiveness for schooltime." He said with a rather disappointed tone and then looked to Kenshi for answers. "I can at least see you two are civil enough to not fight on school grounds."
"It's more that he's trying to psyche himself up to get to the top…" Kenshi elaborated as he watched Bakugo leaving. "But this time no one's just gonna roll over for him."
All-Might nodded as he looked to Kenshi. "I see…Well, school is finished for the day so head on home." He said before passing on that same message to the other students as they decided to take their leave once the tension settled.
"Just like Bakugo, I can't afford to let what happened in the Battle Training get to my head, I'm gonna need to keep trying to push every step of the way." Kenshi thought to himself as he walked and adjusted his bag though he ended up getting tapped on the shoulder.
"There is one thing that I would ask; This dispute with Bakugo…Will it be a problem if you two are in the same classes? If so then I'll suggest talking to either Mr. Aizawa or talking to the Principal if it gets bad." All-Might asked, knowing that while Kenshi wasn't an instigator, he also didn't fully believe that his would-be successor could keep his cool around the boy after what happened.
"Right now, I'm more focused on trying to improving in class." Kenshi admitted as he was dismissed; "I'll keep to the training plan and try and figure out the "other assignment" in my free time. He said before heading out of the gate, only to hear someone calling his name.
"Record Breaker, I am glad to see that you aren't nursing any grievances after what happened in class." Iida said as he caught up with the taller boy; "And I also wanted to thank you for earlier."
Kenshi smiled a little; "Not a problem. I'm not exactly good at that kind of thing but I just thought that you might be better suited for something like that." He mentioned with a little more calmness, the fact that he was elected for it let alone voted still boggled his mind. "Besides, I've got enough to focus on without adding Class President to the list."
Iida nodded as he thought it over. "I'm surprised though, I would have thought that someone with your talents could breeze through this easily."
Kenshi nodded but in all honesty, he had his answer from the start when the topic was brought up in class. "Well, I'm admittedly not the smartest guy in class…You're the one who came up with that speech for choosing how we pick and you're really oriented towards structure and keeping things organised…Why wouldn't you get picked?"
"Hey, you guys getting the trains too?" Uraraka's voice called out as she ran after Kenshi and Iida; "I'll hang with you guys until mine stops by…"
Iida welcomed her as she ran up to the two; "Infinity Girl, I must repeat my congratulations on getting the win in training today."
"You don't have to keep calling me that, my name's Ochaco Uraraka…You're Tenya Iida and you're…Cowboy, is that right?" She asked the two since now they had a proper chance to get to know each other.
"Uh…My name's actually Kenshi Yoshiyasu, you don't need to call me that." Kenshi mentioned as he got a little uncomfortable with someone else starting to name him that. "But it's still nice to meet ya."
"Likewise, though if you don't mind me asking…Why do you not like that name? Is it because it's origin is based on lawlessness?" Iida asked in a rather blunt yet genuinely concerned way.
"Actually, it's a name that Bakugo uses to try getting under my skin since middle school…Partly because I'm from the country and partly because back then; To other kids, I was the size of a cow." Kenshi admitted and made a circle around his stomach. "But I got better at it and Bakugo's said it so much that it's kind of lost all meaning at this point."
"Sorry, I just said it because that name's been thrown around a lot." Uraraka apologised but then glanced to him; "Still, it does have a pretty good fit for you…The whole "Starin' down a lone enemy and giving them what for." kind of deal, I mean if Climt Westwood can pull it off, why not you?."
"That is still a little…Odd to label considering his rural upbringing." Iida pointed out as he looked to Kenshi; "Are you sure that you're alright with that kind of nickname?"
"What's the big deal? Like Uraraka said: It does kind of have a good ring to it…Plus it would probably work a lot better than the tongue twister of trying to say my name and Uraraka's at the same time." Kenshi shrugged as he started to pass the time with his two new friends until they eventually set off home.
"So…How's U.A treating you?" Melissa asked him from a computer screen as both her and Kenshi finally had the chance to talk with each other on video Chat since he had School now and she was more focused on her work. "Are the other Superheroes in training being nice to you?" She asked jokingly as she was both curious at how his Quirk development was going but also interested in how he was handling things now.
"Oddly enough, it's been a lot more hectic than I thought it'd be." Kenshi remarked as he leaned back on his chair; "Then again; What else do you expect from a top school…I think you'd really like it since the teachers are okay with showing off Quirks in classroom settings, you'd probably get a butt ton of inspiration for new gear to make."
Melissa laughed a little at the analogy but ultimately agreed; "Yeah, a place like UA is probably a goldmine for Support Tech specialists…Though I can imagine having Uncle Might as a teacher there must REALLY make it fun too." She teased as she noticed the awkward talk that All-Might and Kenshi had when they arrived on I-Island.
"Believe it or not, he's actually a really good teacher, he's good at picking out the right things to say and how to improve…Plus I'm pretty sure that both of us would get in trouble if he shows me any favoured treatment." Kenshi explained, "Plus he does help me out when I need it."
Melissa nodded as she realised how much happier he looked now; It made all the difference from the awkward and somewhat careful guy who was still trying to figure himself out. "So…Your Quirk make any waves there?"
"I actually got in trouble because of a flub I made regarding those braces you made for me…Something about Quirk supporting gear that needed filling out to use them." Kenshi admitted with an embarrassed look on his face. "I'm glad that I could see that they worked but at the same time, I feel a little awkward of just bulldozing everyone at the Quirk tests…"
"I guess I can understand that…Nobody wants to be overshadowed." Melissa agreed but then adjusted her glasses. "But isn't it part of being a Hero to know your limits and how to best use them to help?" She asked and got a sheepish nod in return. "There you go…I've seen exactly how much potential that you have just from the initial training, imagine how far you'd go as a legit Hero once you graduate."
"You do have a point…But I still don't think I've really uncovered anything else besides the stuff I discovered with you around…Maybe you're my lucky Quirk charm." Kenshi said jokingly but then got a little nervous when he noticed that Melissa hadn't said anything yet had a bright pink flush
"Y-Yeah, I guess I could see it like that..." Melissa said with a rather embarrassed expression as she turned to her chart, Melissa had explained her theory about the Zodiac to Kenshi when it got closer to sending him back to Japan; "Still….7/12 of the supposed list of theorised abilities is still a passing grade." She said and gave him a thumbs up; "All you need to figure out the remaining ones…Get creative because they could be pretty much anything."
Kenshi nodded as he remembered the "Tattoo" on his back; "It couldn't hurt to try…Though I honestly wouldn't know where to start." He admitted as he counted the powers that he knew he had on his fingers.
"If you want, I can send you the theory list and the notes I have that I took on I-Island, maybe that can help get the brain juices flowing." Melissa offered as she picked up a pen drive. "I don't know what the training areas at UA are like but I think you could probably talk with Uncle Might, he might know a good place to practice."
"You are a life saver, Melissa." Kenshi admitted as he felt a little embarrassed about all the help he got. "Seriously, I wouldn't have known where to start if I hadn't come to I-Island."
"Come on, you threw me a big bone with all the Quirk Research you helped me out with…It's only fair I pay you back." Melissa said and smiled though it had a tinge of pink when Kenshi complimented her.
"That..Reminds me, there was something I've been wanting to ask you but I wasn't sure how to ask it." Kenshi said and started to get a little nervous.
"Y-Yeah?" Melissa asked, curious as to what the question was but she also had to restrain herself because she had an inkling that she knew what he was gonna ask, or at the very least to ask something that she wanted to ask herself.
Kenshi was uncertain; He wanted to ask Melissa about this supposed thing that All-Might name-dropped her in but with the more he thought about it, he actually had something else that he wanted to ask now that they were face to face…kind of. "About that kiss when I was last there…"
That was it, Melissa quickly changed from that light pink tinge into red as she recalled that sunset over their food and him saying those words that reaffirmed her into working even harder. "Look, I'm sorry about that…Things were a little intense in the moment and I haven't really done anything like that before and the fact that you were really attractive in the light so I ju-" She started to talk incredibly fast and mixed apologies in as she felt like she had overstepped a line. "I'm sorry if that made things weird or uncomfortable…"
Kenshi was confused more than anything as he hadn't expected for Melissa to be so upfront about everything he was going to ask. "I…I didn't know that this got stuck in your head so hard."
Melissa buried her cherry red face in her arms and let out a loud groan, now that she had essentially said everything; There was no reason left for her to deny. "Kenshi…I wasn't lying when I said that you were a really nice guy and the fact that I've dedicated all that time to help you and watching you improve got me…Well, it got me more than a little invested with seeing you achieve what you wanted." She said as she peeked up from her arms. "Back then, I wanted to ask you if…If there was someone you liked or if you were seeing someone and I had hoped that we could kinda…talk about it but then I messed it all up by acting like some dumb, lovestruck teenager…"
"But…You are a teenager, we both are." Kenshi pointed out as he finally tried to talk sense. "Look, to answer your questions; I wasn't really dating anyone and I'm still not…And I'm gonna be honest, I really wasn't expecting for anyone to actually like me like that." He admitted as he saw Melissa start to calm down a little.
"Look, just…Can we move on from it? Pretend like it didn't happen and go back to being friends? I don't want you to think of me as some weird desperate girl who just makes out with a guy because he said some nice things?" Melissa asked, she knew that it was better to move on from it but she couldn't deny that a small part of her hurt when she wanted to try stepping back.
"Well, we can if you really want to…But I don't think of you like that, I never have." Kenshi admitted honestly. "You're an awesome Support technician and an amazing person for putting out all the stops for me even though I was uncertain about myself."
"Maybe…Maybe we can try thinking on it." Melissa suggested but then thought on it; "I mean, plenty of the girls at my schools do long distance relationships."
"Though I don't know how well a long distance relationship can work since I go to school here and you're at UA…Plus we don't know if we'll meet someone else in the future while at school or if something happens during that time o-" Kenshi said as he started mumbling to herself and then stopped when he heard Melissa stopping him.
"I think I get the logic…I know it's hard to plan this, so how about this? We can try thinking on it and planning stuff but in the meanwhile, we focus on what we can do best…I know there's something going on on I-Island so I need to help Dad with trying to get things organised."
Kenshi nodded; "It's probably a better idea to plan this instead of deciding it all in one." He said as he decided to try diverting onto another topic to see if he could lighten the mood and not let her embarrassment linger. "So, I figured out more about my healing ability thanks to an explosion."
In another part of town inside of a derelict looking bar, a smokey looking man was cleaning a glass while a man with an abundance of hands clinging to his body was reading a newspaper and playing a handheld console at the same time. "Sir, I think we need to start preparing our next move…Stories about All-Might joining UA Academy as a teacher are piling up and it will only be a matter of time before we lose our chances to attack him in the open."
"Kurogiri, how many times do I have to tell you? We will strike when the time is right, the press have already made this news countrywide and those vultures will start to make more aggressive moves on the school." The handed man remarked without diverting his attention on the game. "Besides, even if we started planning now…We can't make our big move until we have definite information."
"I understand…But this is still All-Might that we need to be cautious of, we cannot afford to leave everything to chance…" Kurogiri explained as he put the glass down. "Giran has come back to us with those villains that he contracted to work for us and we need to tell him when the time will be."
"Kurogiri, have you ever played Monster Hunter?" The handed man asked as he looked up at the smokey man through the fingers that clasped onto his wrinkled face.
"No…I can't say that I have."
"Think of UA like this Diablos; Before you can deal the big damage to your target, you need to whittle them down…Break each of their facets piece by piece, remove their semblance for safety and watch them stagger." The man explained as he gestured to a nearby manual of a a large dragon with oversized horns and a gigantic club tail. "Study each of their vulnerabilities, hunt them down until they are backed into a corner and then…"
Kurogiri waited for the man to finish but the silence was palpable. "And…Then what?"
The handed man had a ghoulish smirk across his face as he rotated his handheld's screen to face Kurogiri with a downed monster. "We aim for the head…So settle down for the moment, Kurogiri because by this time tomorrow…I'll have started breaking UA's horns."