S**t. The green haired individual cursed inwardly. The reason for all the fanfare during travel was to distract from their Quirky nature, and honestly, the Quirk in question was rather hard to explain, and situational at best. So, when the eclectically dressed woman with pink hair appeared with a kennel on wheels, the individual was surprised, and honestly confused.
A pale hand was slid into the kennel’s barred door, as the green haired Quirk bearer looked out over the arena, and grabbed the animal inside. There was the sound of a struggle.
“
Oh, come on, stay still you,” the lilting voice fussed.
Despite what appeared to be kicking on the animal’s part, the crouching figure held firm, though looked on to the pseudo-arena for Quirk demonstrations. And what was seen at first was not liked. Eyes were rolled at the use of ‘ore-sama’. The torrent of flame caused a momentary look of worry, but the orange-yellow eyes were steeled soon after, expression hardening.
Next, the girl of Chinese descent, Zhao Emiko. Obviously, this silver-haired girl was related in some way to the Chinese militant Zhao-sensei. Not that that was important. What she performed, however, was rather interesting. Her Quirk allowed her to, quite literally, throw her punches and kicks a distance from her body. The screaming in high pitch, however, seemed rather needless.
Then, there was this kid who, despite being in school-uniform, seemed to be dressed like a hobo. He could shoot a glowy ball out of his hand, called it some trashy English phrase. Disinterest spread across the green-hair’s face, as the pale arm was removed from the kennel, which was temporarily used as a seat despite the rattling from within. From this position, the student looked on as two water based Quirks were exhibited in a row. Both were interesting, and rather impressive in their own right, Emision type Quirks, most likely. Although, the stupid dance that that Suihara girl did was sort of a detractor, giving the friction-reducing Seto an edge in the observer’s mind.
Then there was the girl who could become… two smaller girls. How bizarre. Furthermore, this Itsuki was somehow able to transmit information between the brains of each of the smaller girls. Quirks were weird, but this felt like cheating to the disinterested looking observer. After that, some vampire looking kid with the ability to vanish around another as their locus appeared. That was neat, the black scleraed student supposed. Though this Himura boy also seemed to have black sclera. How odd.
The next girl, who seemed to be dressed in ganguro-fashion, introduced herself as Hanazawa Lacara. Her name was odd, but there was little time to be distracted by that. This girl
exploded. After speaking for a time, then rambling in a language that could only be assumed to be English, the blond girl began emitting tremendous, horrific torrents of molten stone. The sound alone almost bowled the seated student over, a look of sheer terror locked on the pale face. What was left to the outside was a stark-still sixteen year old, seeming to be accepting a flaming demise, as if it were fitting somehow. It was almost hard to tell, especially in the stressful situation, how mortified this individual was. The spectacular, technological save by Captain Spacenaut, as well as the student’s own screams, were wholly ignored in abject horror.
The screams stopped during the impromptu intermission that was created by the smoldering, lethal debris being completely removed from the premises, but true attention wasn’t regained until a loud, obnoxious voice was shouting about having a shell, being able to swim, and being strong. The green haired student scoffed, thinking, ‘
I can do that stuff too’ in a most sour way.
The next demonstration was from a chubby looking girl, who was able to transform herself into motile silk, either in the form of strands or fabric sheets. This seemed to hold the orange-eyed student’s attention rather well. The Quirk to be shown after that was arguably more interesting. This Genki Nyoko character seemed able to transmit energy in various forms, showing impressive strength, and boosted speed. This would be a useful person with which to have positive relations, at least in rough situations.
“Wow! Nyoko-kun, I’m almost jealous! So you not only have the capability of this kind of strength, but can grant it to others as well? That’s soooo cool! You’ll have to try it on me sometime!” Mori-sensei commented after, almost sounding like a kid.
Next, there was a pale boy with black hair- probably the most
normal looking one out of the lot of them. So normal, in fact, that he had almost melded into the background. That was, however, until he blurted some type of poetic verse of nonsensical proportions. The Quirky student’s jaw clenched, a hand clutching against the necklace of bone. Eyes glazing over, and face becoming clammy, the hand suddenly ripped the tooth-like bone from the necklace, jamming it into the selfsame student’s own left arm. A scream of pain rang out, but was reigned in swiftly, as blood began to pool on the pale forearm and drip on the ground.
Eventually, having not been moving much, and resorting to crouching in front of the animal carrier, which earned some indignant jabs at the student, causing a swift turn and glare in reply.
“
Hey.”
The next student, obviously foreign, based on his hair color and face shape, caught the reluctant animal’s ward’s attention as well. His Quirk was obvious, sporting a familiar looking set of horns and tail. It was much like a bull, and he demonstrated rather bullish strength.
“
I can do that too,” the observer grumbled, sounding rather bitter.
And the Quirk after that- that was a disaster. While boasting increased strength (
yet again) due to a transformation, and even enhanced senses, which resulted in folded arms, this foreigner named Anderson Marius showed no ability to control his Quirk, enough to actually attack one of the teachers unprovoked. The good news was that the teacher seemed to have an invulnerability related Quirk, and what unfolded was a rather sad display.
“
S--t. At least I can control myself when using my Quirk,” the individual grumbled bitterly.
And so, with all the other students’ demonstrations done, and a good hour at least spent sitting by the kennel, the individual who had been crouching much like a hoodlum stood, stretching for a moment, with a pop coming from the left elbow. With hands in pockets and measured steps, the stage was stepped upon.
Turning to face the crowd, the individual spoke, “
Kemonohito Yaseishi,” was mumbled out, with a tone of begrudging relent, “
My Quirk’s hard to talk about, so… I’ll just show you,” the student informed, using the archaic, and genderless, ‘Warewa’ as a personal pronoun.
Yes, dressed in a loose fitting version of the male uniform, it was hard to tell if this student was actually male or female. The facial structure and posture could be seen as either-or, and no amount of specific bodily curvature or musculature was obvious to indicate either way.
Regardless, Yaseishi’s head tossed, revealing short, pointed brown horns, lips twisting into a grin, showing off pointed, sharp looking teeth. The amber irises flashed or a moment, taking on a slightly more green hue as the horns began to alter, shifting and branching upwards. The teen’s body trembled, stance widening. A tail seemed to snake from behind the wide belt, thin and whip-like, and the necklace of bone swayed as if caught in an updraft. Yaseishi’s jaw clenched tightly, as the horns that had been masked by thick hair branched into a rack of three point antlers. Slowly, with a strained look, the transformation was completed, the tail sporting a white puff at the end as it swayed, and the student’s back straightened.
“
See, I can do stuff like this. It’s… versatile, but it has… a lengthy start-phase, let’s say. And-” the youth began.
With a great step, the demonstrator began running. With unexpected, almost supernatural speed, Yaseishi dashed to the kennel, placing a hand on it with a loud thump. While it was very possible to keep track of this movement visually, it was likely surprising to those viewing it. Yaseishi gave a wide grin showing off long, tusk like fangs that weren’t there before.
“
-this one makes me fast. Observe,” the Mutant bade.
With a rush of wind, and clearly faster than any of the most athletic students in the class, Yaseishi ran full-tilt away from the stage, crossing it with grace and heading out, before stopping, and turning back, returning to center-stage with equal speed. The fresh wound was now pooling blood on the student’s arm once again, but seemed unnoticed.
“
I call it… my Stag Form. And I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to work until now. So… I guess thanks are in order, Mori-sensei,” the student explained without actually thanking the teacher.
And, with that, the green hue died from Yaseishi’s eyes. The student’s mouth closed, shuddering slightly as the horns slunk back to small nubs from antlers, and the tail squirmed back into obscurity behind the belt. Eyes closed tight, the green-haired individual seemed to shake off some odd feeling, before rejoining the group, hair tossed to yet again hide the demon-like horns.
Mori-sensei looked just as star struck with Yaseishi’s Quirk as she was with everybody else, perhaps even more so considering she went through a lot of trouble to be able to witness it and let them participate with the rest of the class. The speed boost granted by the stag transformation put her on par, perhaps even faster than the fastest non-Quirky run speed records and she had a blast watching her zoom about the arena. Yaseishi not showing much gratitude didn’t seem to bother her at all, she might not have even noticed.
“You don’t have to thank me, Yaseishi-kun. I’m just so glad I could make it work for you! Your Quirk looked very interesting to me on paper and I was excited to see it in action! Thank you!” Spacenaut, on the other hand, was even more expressionless than usual. The static simplified expression usually displayed on his visor had vanished and he seemed to be mumbling to himself incoherently under the visor.
He had noticed her bleeding, and from Spacenaut’s view his visor had locked on, zoomed in, and began to visually analyze the wound from afar. A warped woman’s voice only audible to him was speaking.
Wrist laceration wound. Superficially deep. Not life threatening. Negligible risk of infection. Angle of entry implies an intentionally self-inflicted wound. Injury occurred recently, within the last several minutes.
“To think that I allowed this to happen--” Spacenaut would not bring it up then as to not bring any negative attention from the rest of the class, but he would act later. For now, he simply brought back a smile.
:)
“Yes, that was valuable indeed,” Mitsuhide-sensei remarked, glancing between Mori-sensei and Spacenaut, “Would you not agree?”
“Valuable? Amazing! They’re all so incredible!” Spacenaut nodded.
“They have much to learn, but we have the finest clay to mold. I share in your enthusiasm.” (•̀o•́)ง
“Quirks are quite amazing, aren’t they?” Mitsuhide added airily.
With the last student having wrapped up her presentation, Mori-sensei looked as if she was about to take the stage herself and give a demonstration of her own. She turned to face the class and cleared her throat, as if to stall for time.
“So--, uhm.” but a new man had arrived on the scene just on cue.
Mori-sensei sighed in relief, she wasn’t that great at wrapping up and her voice was already tired from talking so much with the students. She looked quite embarrassed for a second, perhaps for taking the stage and not saying a word to the class, but the way she looked at the man approaching may have suggested otherwise.
“Oh, just on time!” Mori-sensei coughed and quickly ducked off of the stage as the man took her place. She bowed her head respectfully at his arrival.
And with the students having been gathered again into a group-at-attention by the teachers, someone new entered the scene. A man with, of all things, red hair approached the stage, and stepped up onto the stone slab, all the while, quietly clapping.
He wore a black buttoned shirt, and over it, a black tailored suit coat. It was thin and open, and seemed at least a size or two too long, or it would have, if the sleeves didn’t stop in his middle forearms. Completing this state of dress were airy looking black slacks. The man was handsome, and, despite his slicked back bright red hair, and equally red eyes, this man was obviously Japanese. The other teachers, Zhao-sensei especially, seemed to stand at attention as this man approached.
“
First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate all of you on your bravery. I know stepping out in public and proclaiming yourself to have a Quirk can be very difficult, and for this, you should be commended. “
Now that all the formalities are out of the way, and your spectacular Quirks have been evaluated by our expert staff,” the man continued, pausing to gesture with his gaze towards Mori Noriko and Mitsuhide Oyoshi specifically, and the teaching staff in general, “
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Todoroki Ishin. I am the Principal here at UA, as well as the year-one mathematics teacher. It is truly an honor to be involved with such a unique school in a program with goals as lofty as this. Now,” the papers he had been holding were lowered, as if no longer needed, “
I realize I’ve asked a lot of you, to exhibit your Quirks in the open like this. I truly wish that Quirks could be celebrated by all. But, in the meantime; as I’m not one who would take without giving, I shall show you something in return.”
The air around the Principal began to slowly vibrate, as those standing closest to the stage could feel the air around it beginning to heat up. However, taking one step back revealed a distinct end to the heat, as if it were being adjusted in a radius with Ishin Todoroki at its origin. The temperature quickly rose ten, twenty, thirty degrees. Higher and higher it climbed. The clothing on Todoroki-sensei’s body began to billow in an unseen current, as the air around him distorted, causing a shimmer in the air. To those simply looking, it would appear as though his legs were stretching down into a dark circle around him on the stone below. This, however, was merely an optical illusion. What wasn’t however, was that the hairspray he had used to tame his russet locks was rapidly deteriorating, and gave up with a soft sizzle.
Hotter and hotter the area became, motes of ash and dust left from the previous demonstrations began to rise, and drift into an ever-rising spiral column in the air. Despite the extreme temperatures, Ishin seemed mostly unphased, even as the papers he held burst into flame, and sent motes of cinder drifting about the area, some of which still lit as they lazed towards the crowd, easily avoided.
“
I know what it means to be Quirky, and proud! For this,” he loudly declared, “
is my Quirk! Heat Shimmer! It affords me quite the edge in combat,” he stated, his voice quieting as his Quirk deactivated, leaving only smokey motes drifting in the natural spring breeze, “
And by combat, I mean I operated as a vigilante under the code ‘Heat Flash’. So, with that out of the way; Captain Spacenaut-Sensei, would you please distribute the students’ dorm assignments? After which, we will supply you with a tour of the campus, and allow you to acclimate to your new situations for the rest of the day. Thank you, sincerely, for your time.”
And with that, the man who was once Heat Flash folded his arms behind himself, and held silent. It was only in the absence of sound that one would realize how noisy Heat Shimmer was when active.
Those who had put an ear to vigilante business may have heard of the man called Heat Flash, who arrived on the scene when it seemed that public services were about to be permanently disrupted by Quirks, and worked hand-in-hand with police to subdue and apprehend Quirk-bearing criminals. He was never as flashy, violent, high-profile, or, as the cynic would say, ‘effective’ as someone like Spacenaut, but he was proud of the work he did.
“Of course, sir. If everybody would please line up single file in front of me, I will now pass out your dorm keys. On the key ring you will find emergency evacuation plans, please study them well and follow all safety precautions.”
The dorm numbers were as follows.
1. Ryuujin Katsuro and Himura Haruki
2. Anderson Marius, Yasuhide Seo, and Megalos Dimitri
3. Himaru Mitsuo and Chujiro Daizo
4. Suihara Mizura and Itsuki Konomi
5. Hanazawa Lacara and Ebisugawa Hyouka
6. Kemonohito Yaseishi, Seto Yuuki, and Hattori Himōri
7. Akizawa Nadeshiko and Hanakotoba Sayuri
8. Zhao Emiko and Genki Nyoko
While it wasn’t immediately clear to everybody who got what room number, by comparing keys they could easily find out. Or, they could simply wait until they reached their dorms.
“Safety precautions? You trying to take my job, Spacenaut?” said the reedy but authoritative voice of old school vigilante hero, Death Glare. His Quirk was active as he made his way towards the group of students with his hands on his hips, but as none of them were in a heightened negative emotional state at the moment all they would feel was a mild chill, and if they were to look at Death Glare, they’d notice his eyes slightly glowing, not that obvious in the light.
He adjusted his glasses with both hands, and the glare from them hid his eyes as his Quirk deactivated, causing the chill to leave the bodies of the students.
“Hello, everyone, I’m Death Glare. Well… if I’m going to be aiding in your teaching, I guess I should go by my actual name. Call me Shigeki-sensei, alright? I’m UA’s security head, and I’m also available as a private tutor if you need some extra help. For now, I guess I’ll just go over some safety rules. There will be a nine PM curfew in effect indefinitely, I’m sure you’re all aware why. As a connected idea, no leaving Musutafu unless accompanied by a teacher or with permission from a parent, we’ll require this parent’s signature. If you leave the city without a parental signature we will be reporting you missing and you will be in
deep shit. Dorms are accessible only to students, guests will require approval, and overnight guests are strictly forbidden. Related to overnight guests, we strongly discourage sexual activities within the dorms. We ask that you please take it to a love hotel if it cannot be avoided. This isn’t in my script, but I think it’s important to let you know that birth control is available from either the nurse or guidance counsellor. When you go off campus, do not go alone, and hide your Quirk if that’s possible. If you require immediate assistance, you will be provided with panic buttons that you can press to immediately alert the security staff of your location. Do not use these unless you are in danger, we will fine you or your parents if they are used pointlessly. Please do not use your Quirks outside designated testing or training areas. We’ll allow some leniency on this is it’s for a use such as picking up a remote control or other stupid crap. The security office is our panic room, if the school goes into lockdown, either remain in your classroom or travel to the security office as swiftly as possible. Should there be an existential threat to the school as a whole, the security office will be your rally point.
Do not remain outside when instructed to immediately travel to the security office. That’s all I have for you right now. Oh right, please visit me if you lose your key, I promise I won’t get mad.”
During these speeches, Principal Todoroki looked on. For the most part, he was still, aside from a sharp glare towards Shigeki-sensei as he cleared his throat, when the security officer uttered some of the more rough language, about which they had spoken specifically. He then moved to the group, using one hand to gesture for a space in the lineup.
“
Now, if you would please follow me, I would like to give you a brief tour to allow you to be acclimated to the school grounds,” the principal spoke up.
Ishin then lead the students to a secondary building which, at first glance, appeared to be a class-room building. However, as they were lead inside, it was apparent that there had been extensive remodeling, which turned it into a rather large dorm hall. The rooms were numbered in clusters, with a large amount of space between the first and second group.
“
Boys’ dorms will be here, at the east end of the building, and girls’ dorms will be at the west end. The classrooms are in the adjacent building, and layouts are repeated in each building for easy memorization. Should you need any emotional support or academic review that you don’t feel is suited for teachers or members of your own class, the Second Year Heroics Course has their own dorms upstairs. Also, please be courteous with the amount of noise you make. Central courtyards are safe-zones for Quirk use, as long as nothing gets damaged. Now, any questions?”