Cherreads

Chapter 44 - Press Attack

Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.

patreon.com/TheSynonym

────────────────────────

[Press Attack]

────────────────────────

"Then, the class representative will be Takahashi, while the vice representative will be Yaoyorozu," Aizawa announced lazily from inside his sleeping bag.

The two students stood at the front of the classroom, accepting the nomination with outward grace and dignity.

'I'm going to make you all suffer unimaginably,' Taka thought as he glared at the culprits behind his newly acquired responsibility.

Kirishima and Sato cheered enthusiastically from their seats.

The rest of the class seemed content with the result.

As for the others who had voted for him—those he still hadn't identified yet—they could hide for now.

That wouldn't stop him from finding them eventually.

"Let's do our best, Takahashi-san!"

Yaoyorozu's bright, enthusiastic voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He turned toward her, sweatdropping internally.

'She looks way too excited about the mountain of work waiting for us.'

Deadpanning, he gave her a small nod.

"Sure."

With that, he faced forward again and let out a quiet sigh.

What was done was done. Even if he hadn't wanted this, there was no denying reality.

He was the class representative now.

And he couldn't exactly call himself an aura farmer if he got cold feet at this point.

'Very well. Let's do this shit,' he thought, eyes narrowing as his resolve hardened.

"Here."

Aizawa's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Taka turned—and froze.

A thick stack of papers was being held out to him.

"...This is?" He eyed them as if they carried some kind of contagious disease.

Aizawa smirked faintly.

"Paperwork. Registering your positions, basic information, and—after lunch, during our next period—you and Yaoyorozu will be selecting additional class officers. Make sure to file that too once you're done."

He continued casually.

"Some of those forms also require your classmates parents' signatures. They're related to future training exercises, Quirk usage permissions, and various legal matters."

Taka took the stack without a word, his expression unchanging, and nodded.

Yaoyorozu stepped closer, curiosity written on her face. Taka split the papers and handed part of them to her so she could look them over.

As she did, Taka stared down at his own share and pondered the future.

'Should I just reveal that I can make clones right here and now?'

°

°

°

| Lunch Period |

After waiting in line and choosing from the many dishes Lunch Rush had prepared—the spiciest—Taka scanned the cafeteria for a place to sit.

Not long after, he found one—or rather, it found him.

Not too far away, Kirishima was waving him over with a friendly grin.

Sighing and shelving his vengeful plans for later, Taka walked toward the table.

Kaminari, Mina, Sato, and Jiro were already seated there.

'So much for a quiet lunch to calm down my stress,' he thought as he sat down.

"Well, if it isn't our new class representative!" Mina exclaimed as Taka joined the group, slamming her palms onto the table inquisitively. "So? How is it? Feeling the power going to your head already?"

'The only thing going to my head is a headache,' Taka groaned internally, but merely nodded without answering.

"You don't look very pleased," Jiro commented, studying him curiously.

"Did you vote for me?" Taka asked, eyes narrowing as they locked onto her.

She stiffened. "N-no. I figured you were going to get elected anyway, so I voted for myself..."

"I did!"

"Me too!"

Sato and Kirishima both raised their thumbs proudly.

"I figured as much," Taka muttered, fingers tapping impatiently against the table.

"Not me—I wanted to be class representative!" Mina stuck out her tongue, then immediately grinned. "Still, I think you're gonna do a great job! You've got that broody, serious vibe. It kinda fits."

"Yeah! I thought so too!" Kirishima added, pumping a fist.

Sato nodded along, arms crossed and eyes closed in agreement. "You helped me improve during the combat exercise, so I figured someone like you wouldn't be bad at the job."

'So these are the consequences of my actions… once again,' Taka thought as he stabbed a bite of food and ate it without enthusiasm.

"I voted for myself too," Kaminari admitted shamelessly before flashing Taka a thumbs-up. "But honestly? I think you'll do great, man!"

"You all really think so?" Taka asked, his gaze sweeping around the table.

They nodded in unison.

Taka smiled gently.

—Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled out a thick stack of papers and began distributing them.

"Alright. Fill these out with your personal information, sign a few of these forms, read the rest carefully, and I want everything completed and returned by the end of the day," he said calmly. "If not, I'll be informing Aizawa-sensei of your impunctuality and making sure you're properly reprimanded."

"…"

The table fell silent as everyone stared at him.

"What? You don't like it?" Taka asked flatly, shooting them a sharp glare. "You're the ones who chose me. So why are you looking at me like that?"

Immediately, everyone averted their eyes.

"Why does it feel like he's angry?" Kaminari whispered to Jiro.

"Why should I know?" she shot back.

"D-did we do something wrong?" Kirishima added nervously.

"Maybe it was the broody and serious comment?" Mina asked, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.

Taka simply watched them with narrowed eyes while going back to eat.

'You wanted me to be class rep? Fine. I'll be the most class-rep class rep to ever class-rep. Even Iida will fear my name.'

As Taka steeled his resolve, Sato tucked the papers into his bag with a firm nod. He then stared at his half-eaten food, brows knit in thought.

"Hey, Takahashi…" he finally spoke, cutting through the lingering tension as he looked up with a serious expression. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Taka lifted his gaze from his meal, raising an eyebrow.

"I know it's kind of weird, asking this from someone I've only known for a few days, but…"

A brief silence followed.

Then Sato straightened, eyes burning with determination. "Could you help me train?"

The table went dead silent again.

Everyone's eyes darted between Sato and Taka in disbelief.

Until—

"Sure," Taka replied calmly, not a hint of surprise on his face.

"What is this sudden development?!" Mina yelled, standing up and slamming her hands onto the table.

Kirishima turned to Sato, completely baffled. "Dude, are you serious? Why so suddenly? I mean, yeah, you said he helped you during the combat exercise—but so much you're even asking for training now?"

Sato shook his head, fists clenching tightly. "You don't get it. When we fought… I felt it. Takahashi, his fighting skills are incredible, even without using his Quirk!"

His gaze locked onto Taka.

"It might not have looked like much to you guys watching from the monitoring room, but I felt it firsthand. After that fight, it was like I'd taken a step forward in my combat ability." He took a breath. "And seeing how serious Aizawa-sensei is—how he's even willing to expel us if we don't meet his standards—I want to be ready for anything. Takahashi's the only one I know who can help me with that."

"For real…?" Kaminari muttered, stunned by how intense things had suddenly become.

Silence fell once again as everyone processed Sato's words.

At least, until—

"Then… could I join too?" Kirishima chimed in, the fire of manliness lighting up in his eyes. "I don't really get it, but if you trust Taka that much, then I wanna see what the fuzz is all about!"

"Eh? What's this?" Mina perked up, excitement rising. "It suddenly turned into some kind of training session. Can I join too? It sounds fun!"

Taka nodded simply, not looking particularly bothered by the extra people joining in.

"What's with these guys…?" Kaminari muttered, no longer sounding nearly as enthusiastic.

Jiro shared his confusion, glancing between the suddenly energized group with an odd expression. It was only their third day of school.

Granted, it was the hero course—but still. Weren't they being a bit too intense already?

To their dismay, Mina suddenly turned toward them with a bright, inviting smile.

"What about you two? Wanna join us?"

Both of them visibly hesitated.

On one hand, they didn't share the excitement buzzing around the table.

On the other hand, outright refusing for no real reason felt awkward.

So, after a moment, Jiro sighed. "Maybe… just to watch for a bit. I'm not good with physical training like that."

"Eh?" Kaminari turned to her, baffled.

But finding no solid reason to back out either, he sighed as well, scratching the back of his head helplessly.

"Then... I guess I'll go too."

And just like that, an after-school training session had been decided out of thin air.

As for Taka—

His internal smirk stretched as wide as it could possibly go.

'Didn't even have to suggest it myself. Does the universe love me or something?'

His plans were already moving forward before he'd even taken the first real step. How could he not be pleased?

Now all that remained was figuring out how to help this bunch step up their game—and he'd be set.

However, while Taka calmly mapped things out in his head, Mina turned toward him.

"So, class representative—where should we meet?"

That snapped Taka out of his thoughts, realizing he hadn't actually planned that far ahead.

Fortunately, someone else had.

"We could use the same gym where we did some of the Quirk assessment tests on the first day," Sato suggested. "We'd need permission first, though."

Taka nodded, unfazed. Sato had very obviously voiced exactly what he had been thinking.

"I see… Well then, we'll leave that to you, class representative!" Mina said cheerfully, passing the responsibility off without hesitation.

Taka opened his mouth to respond, but before he could—

RIIIIIING!—

A piercing alarm echoed throughout the cafeteria, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

{"Attention. A Level Three security breach has been detected. All students, please evacuate outdoors immediately."}

"Eh?! What's going on?!" Kirishima jumped to his feet, panic flashing across his face.

The others followed suit, standing up and glancing around at the increasingly restless crowd.

Only Taka remained seated, calmly finishing his meal, his eyes quietly scanning the rising chaos with complete composure.

Jiro snapped her head toward him.

"Oi, Takahashi, what the hell are you doing? We've gotta—"

Before she could finish, Taka raised a hand to calm her down and stood.

His expression was so utterly calm, so unshaken, that the panic welling up inside her faltered.

And as the others turned to look at him, that same strange calm spread to them as well.

Their racing hearts began to slow.

Regardless of what the alarm actually meant, with Takahashi here, none of them felt like it could truly be that bad.

Such was the presence of the genuinely strong.

As the group gradually calmed, Taka lightly tapped his tray once, then looked at them evenly. "Make sure no one steals my food. I'll go deal with that."

His tone left no room for argument.

Turning away, he walked calmly toward the cafeteria exit, where clusters of panicked students were already beginning to pile up.

Within moments, chaos had already bloomed.

Students pushed against one another, voices rising in distress as bodies were squeezed together, all of them trying to force their way into the hallways leading outside.

Taka stopped just behind the writhing mass and snorted softly at the sight.

'Wouldn't want anyone to be trampled to death, so—let's do this quick.'

Not willing to let this drag on any longer, his aura expanded.

Invisible—but absolute—it washed over the crowd in a single, overwhelming wave.

Then, he took a step forward and called out.

—Step.

"Hey."

The effect was immediate.

Just like with the press earlier that day, dread rippled through the crowd the instant he spoke.

An instinctive certainty spread among them: if they didn't turn around and acknowledge the speaker, they would be making an unforgivable mistake.

So they did.

The pushing stopped. The noise died down. Every single student turned.

Confusion flickered through their faces when all they found was a teenager standing there—hands in his pockets, posture relaxed, expression cool and detached.

Some of them were upperclassmen. Third-years, even.

And yet—

No one questioned him.

No one scoffed, no one spoke, and no one dared to disregard him.

The moment their eyes settled on him, there was no doubt he had been the one who spoke, his presence repressing any kind of diminishing thought from their minds.

So, they waited for him to speak. Like kids before a greater authority.

"..." Seeing he had gathered their attention, Taka slowly removed one hand from his pocket and casually hooked his thumb to his side, pointing toward the hallway windows next to them.

Only then did he speak again.

"It's the press," he said flatly. "Behave yourselves."

Heads turned as one.

And there, just beyond the glass, the distant mass of reporters finally came into view.

The panic that had been brewing vanished almost instantly.

Relief spread through the crowd as understanding set in, and their gazes naturally returned to the teenager who had resolved everything so effortlessly.

Only—

He was already gone.

Just as mysteriously and imposingly as he had appeared, he was gone. Like a ghost.

Of course, in reality, he was just back at the table, calmly taking his seat and resuming his meal as if nothing had happened.

He ignored the stunned stares burning into him from his classmates around him, focused solely on finishing his food.

It wasn't until he set his utensils down that he finally looked up.

Seeing the disbelief plastered across their faces, he cleaned himself and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What?"

...

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: The plans are developing, and, of course, Taka Aura Farms once more using his future knowledge.

I'm not gonna put how much aura he gains every time, since it's a bit annoying. But since the number of people was kinda big this time, let's say he earned some good 400 aura in one go.

Pretty good for a day where not much happens.

Of course, the day ain't finished yet. There's still the training session to attend. But I'm gonna make it just one chapter long to not stay on it too much.

Anyway, see you guys next chapter.)

More Chapters