Chapter Text

Hitoshi's feet dangled of the rooftop's edge. Just a small shift could make him fall.

It was grounding, in a way, the adrenaline that it gave him. Hitoshi knew he should go back in by now, Yanagi-san would wake up to go to work, the kids would have to get ready for school and Hitoshi... would be crying in the school bathrooms later because fuck he definitely failed the hero course practical exams.

A police car zoomed by, the red and blue light bringing a sense of nostalgia for some reason. It reminded Hitoshi that it was already late -or early- though, crime, at least the ones that were being reported, was on the rise again. A sigh escaped the boy as he gave a final look to the view that was the outskirts of Saitama.

The boy slipped down the probably moldy pipe, stumbling but eventually balancing on the tiny window sill. He crouched down, silently sliding it up to make sure he didn't wake Akinori up. The kid was still cuddled in Hitoshi's bed -mattress, more accurately, but the thought hurt Hitoshi too much- with the ratty old blanket laid on him, Prince, Hitoshi's only possession from Before, wrapped up in the young boy's arms.

Hitoshi leaned down, "Wake up Aki, you have school." The small boy shuffled a bit, but blinked awake. No words were exchanged as they continued their morning routine.

"Yo! Did you see those giant robots?! I can't believe UA would release those on kids! It was so nerve wracking!"

"I know right! I barely got any points, there was some guy with explosions and he was bringing them down left and right!"

Hitoshi tuned out the rest of the conversation. Why were they even talking about the entrance exam? They signed an NDA right? We all had to if we wanted to qualify. Are they casually breaking contracts? Hitoshi sighed, burying his head in his arms. His ears were working normally now, he was grateful for that, but it was still annoying having to hear his classmates.

UA, UA, UA. That's all they were talking about. Hitoshi knew for a fact they've at least broke 4 contracts by now, from discussing answers from the test to talking about the Pro Hero teachers they saw. Idiots, most of them.

And then his name came up.

"I think I saw Shinsou at the exam."

"What? You did?? But you only took the hero course exam right?"

"Yeah! Imagine my surprise when I saw him! Thinks he can be a hero, hah! As if, with a quirk like his, he'd be a perfect villain. Then again, with his 'condition'-" the classmate did quotation marks with his fingers, mocking, "-he's practically useless. I'd be more surprised if he talked."

"I think I'd be more surprised by anything but  him becoming a villain."

Hitoshi ignored them, acted like he wasn't there.

Not that it was any different from the other days.

Hitoshi pushed the heavy door of the post office, grunting lowly at the force it pushed back onto him. The chilled air of the building was a pleasant feeling to Hitoshi, reminiscent of the rooftop air and bringing him out of the slowly warming air outside.

The nervous buzz from after the practical exams for UA slowly turned to a cold acceptance the more the days pass. Hitoshi wasn't even sure why he was checking the mail today, he already did so yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that and-

-you get the idea.

Hitoshi pulled out his key, slipping it into the keyhole and opening the small mail box. A sigh left his mouth as he saw the coupons (although he did keep them, it was useful to him) before he noticed something dark blue.

The violet eyes squinted slightly, pulling the -now recognized blue as a wax seal (who uses a wax seal)- before promptly dropping the envelope, blinking.

On the wax seal.

The logo.

UA's logo.

"Classified; Open letter alone and do not open in public", Hitoshi whispered to himself, rereading the back of the envelope. The moon was shining brighter, at least to Hitoshi, and the air was instead a soft kiss. "Not so much in private, but not in public either", he grumbled to himself (for some reason, why he felt the need to defend himself he doesn't know), running a finger over the engravings of the UA logo of the seal.

The boy took a deep breath, "Alright, it's now or never."

Hitoshi shrugged as he opened the flap of the big envelope, "Probably never."

He pulled out the stack of papers, before placing the thick ones that were stapled together, leaving one piece of paper on top.

Hitoshi held his breath as he slowly skimmed the paper.

U.A. High School
Karasu Hill
Musutafu
XX XXXX XXXX

5 March 2XXX

Shinsou Hitoshi
17 Nabu Ikusei
Saitama

Shinsou-kun,

Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? What matters is that I'm the principal!

I see that you have attempted to join the U.A. Hero Course, with an excellent average mark of 94% of all 6 examination papers! Of course I, the smartest creature can easily get those marks, it is impressive for a human middle school-er, especially since I make the questions myself.

I am sad to say that you did not pass the practical exam for the Hero Course, with a mere total of 1 villain point and 19 rescue points. A respectful amount of rescue points for someone who didn't know about them, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to get a place in the Hero Course.

Now, before you finish ripping this letter, at least grab some tape and finish reading this letter. And please, grab some tissues, you'll need them again when you're crying happy tears.

You, young Shinsou, have been approved to join Covert: Project Underground, a new project to make more underground heroes. Little people know about this, the only people in this world who will know about this will be the UA staff, the HPSC, a few officers I trust, and some top (and underground) heroes. And now you (and your immediate family).

Attached are your forms to fill out. If you agree to join this new project, please send in the form by next week. If you refuse, tell no one of this letter, such as you agreed by signing the NDA. If you do join:-

• Your class will be Class 1-C (does it stand for covert? Who knows!). To all the other students, you are in the General Studies Course. You are, officially however, in the Hero Course. Of course, because the other students don't know of this, you will have to follow the General Studies' curriculum of top the Hero Course. I however, believe you can do just fine.
• For facilities like Gym Gamma and PE grounds, we have built special underground versions, in order to keep your status hidden. For facilities like Ground Beta, Ground Gamma, Ground Omega and the USJ, you'll have access to them just like other hero students, but your time slots would differ from theirs. Ground Alpha, a nightlife themed training facility formerly only allowed for 2nd and 3rd years will be accessible to you early in order to train your stealth abilities.
• You will get your hero license just as the other hero students, you will get internships just as other hero students, and you will get to become a hero, just like other hero students.

Now, I know this might not be what you wanted. You might feel as if you haven't earned this, or that this project seems like a knockoff of the proper hero course.

But young Hitoshi,

You can be a hero.

Signed,
Nezu
Nezu GOTW
Principal of U.A. High School

...holy fuck.

Chapter Text

"Thanks, Shinsou-kun. Here's your paycheck for this month."

Hitoshi nodded, putting the final box down. Tanaka-san passed the envelope to the teenager, who pocketed it gratefully.

"Heard you got into UA, congrats kid", Tanaka-san took out a cigarette, lighting it up, "you get to be one of those wannabe heroes, no?"

Ok, ouch.

'No, I didn't get in the hero course. Just general studies.'

Tanaka-san hummed, he was one of the few people that would hire Hitoshi, and one of the fewer who could actually understand sign.

"Welp, whatever, good luck. You're a good kid."

Hitoshi ignored how a small compliment like that make him happy. Instead, he bowed, and walked out of the store. Hitoshi counted his money, cursing internally. He had just enough for some new school supplies (his bag was ripped from a classmate's quirk), some food and a bit extra Hitoshi thanked the gods that he got a scholarship so he didn't have to pay the attending fee nor pay for the uniforms.

Hitoshi ran a hand through his hair, I guess a bit of splurging wouldn't hurt.

Beany Bakery, despite it's name, was mainly a cafe. A cat cafe. Which automatically won a page in Hitoshi's book. Nothing was better than cats. Ok, maybe coffee was better- never mind they tie.

The cafe was quiet and mostly empty. There was a couple in the far back, a person wearing a hoodie, the cashier, and the cats.

So many cats.

"Hey, Hitoshi. The regular?"

Hitoshi just nodded, thankful that he didn't have to take out his phone to communicate. It was lucky that the cashier was a regular one who sees Hitoshi a lot. Avoids the hassle.

"Alright, it'll be right up!" She smiled, writing Hitoshi's order and passing it to the back. Hitoshi sat down at his favourite spot, a beanbag in the corner of the room near a large one way window that was a perfect distance from the air-conditioner.

Hitoshi watched as Mr. Pinto climbed onto his lap, meowing loudly. I know, I know, Hitoshi thought as he softly pet the American Bobtail. Hitoshi could see Turtle, the Russian Blue approach. Cranberry-chan, a Scottish Fold that has a pink-ish tint to her, was with the couple in the back. Fava, a munchkin that has mutated to a viridian, was wondering around, meowing at the passersby as he usually does.

The cashier (oh wow Hitoshi should probably remember her name) arrived, placing a cup of salted caramel iced latte and a slice of Korean fruit cake.

Hitoshi savoured the taste of the sweet fruit cake, balanced with the hint of sour from the strawberries. His latte was a nice mix of sweet, bitter and salty. Ah, the bill is also probably bitter and salty. Worth it though, Hitoshi thinks as he takes the final bite of his cake, so worth it.

Hitoshi walked up to the cashier, said goodbye to his precious money, and turned away to leave. And then he bumped into someone.

As in, he fell flat on his ass.

Hitoshi looked up and his first thought was Fava, but human. The boy, who looked to be around Hitoshi's age, if not a bit younger, had viridian hair and eyes, just like Fava the cat. He looked- terrified, honestly, that he'd bumped into Hitoshi. Speaking of, he should probably stand up.

"OH MY GOD- I'm so so so sorry!!! I was in a rush and I wasn't looking and-"

The boy rambled on and honestly who has this much energy-- Hitoshi lifted a hand to the boy's face, abruptly stopping him. Hitoshi shook his head, it's fine, and bowed, not a big deal, I'll be going.

Hitoshi looked into the boy's eyes, making sure he at least vaguelyunderstood what Toshi was saying before nodding and walking away.

I wonder if the owner would be willing to give me the recipe for that Korean fruit cake... hmm.

Hitoshi looks up at the majestic building that is UA. Even though Hitoshi had been there before it looked just as overwhelming as it was that day. Hitoshi took a deep breath, fixing his uniform. The one with two buttons instead of one. Stupid state secret, I want the hero course uniform.

Hitoshi started walking towards the gate, At least I didn't have to explain that I'm in the hero course to Yanagi-san.

There were a lot of people there, a lot of new faces he hasn't seen at both the exams he took. As the courses had different days for their entrance exam, the ones Hitoshi had never seen before were either upperclassmen or support and management course students.

Hitoshi found his way to the general studies level, which was on the third floor, which unfortunately meant he has to pass through the second floor, the hero course. He didn't know why he still felt resentment for the hero students. First of all, they didn't do anything to him. Sure, there were probably some that got in there just because they have a flashy quirk, but it's pretty hypocritical of Hitoshi to discredit those who did work hard. Second, Hitoshi was also in the hero course, so he probably shouldn't be that sad.

Maybe Principal Nezu was right, Hitoshi did feel like this was some sort of cop-out for the real hero course.

Before Hitoshi could delve deeper into his disaster of a brain, he realized he reached his class.

Ok, ok, ok. You can do this, breathe just- breathe.

Hitoshi stared at the giant '1-C' on the giant door, slowly opening it to see--

--no one. He was early. Hitoshi wasn't sure if he was thankful or not.

Hitoshi walked over to his table (thank god he got number 10, in the back corner next to a giant window. He can look over the class and possibly jump out of the window (for emergencies).

Hitoshi laid his head on his table, staring out the window. It was mostly trees, but Hitoshi could see a building in the far back, maybe a field next to it?

Hitoshi didn't know how long he was staring at the trees but he definitely wasn't expecting the door to open.  Slowly, very slowly.

Hitoshi turned, seeing a puff of green. Fava-?

A person stepped out, his unruly curly green hair demanding attention. Said boy was muttering to himself, fingers fidgeting. He seemed to not notice Hitoshi, so Hitoshi couldn't care less.

But something about the boy seemed familiar, where has he seen that hair?

The boy's eyes widened as he saw Hitoshi, bowing (why?) before taking his seat in front of Hitoshi, and oh, it's the guy that panicked.

Well, I guess that means I less first impression that Hitoshi has to make sure he doesn't fuck up.

Soon everyone was in class, then again, Class 1-C seemed to only has 10 students, which is.. odd, but Hitoshi chalked it up to it being a secret underground hero course thing.

Silently watching his class, Hitoshi could see a few mutations, one person was totally invisible (and might've given Hitoshi a mini heart attack when he saw floating clothes), and another person with feathers on their forearms (though Hitoshi wasn't sure if it correlated to their quirk or not, but other than that most of his classmates' quirks were unknown.

Hitoshi wasn't sure how he'd survive this, the class was a small amount, which meant that he had less choices for friends, and it meant that he couldn't blend into the shadows like he usually does. Some people were already talking to each other (one of them kept muttering loudly about 'babies' and Hitoshi does not want to know what that was about).

Suddenly the door slid open, revealing-

-a caterpillar..?

What the fuck.

And then the caterpillar open(ed??? what the heck-) revealing...

Hitoshi's breath hitched, Eraserhead?

He's going to be our homeroom teacher? I thought he only taught the hero course? I guess this is also a hero course but that would mean potentially raising suspicion and-

"Shut up, class is starting. Nedzu." Everyone quieted down.

And then Nedzu, the infamous Principal of UA, whatever the fuck 'GOTW' means popped out of Eraserhead's capture weapon.

Is this a fever dream? Am I high? Is this some sort of illusion because this is not fun.

"Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? What matters is that I'm the principal!" he announced, as if that explained anything. "Thank you Aizawa-kun, you can go to your own homeroom now."

Eraserhead (Aizawa?) grunted, walking out of the door. Hitoshi pushed down the pang of disappointment he felt.

"Hello children. My name is Nezu, Principal of UA!" He smiled, eyes beady, "Now, as you all know, Class 1-C is an underground hero course, but to every other student here, you are a general studies class. Now, I will brief you all on the details later, but should anyone of you tell someone without prior permission, there will be consequences. That being said, if this secret is found out by accident, please report to me or any UA faculty as soon as you can. We wouldn't want this to get out to the public."

Hitoshi nodded, seeing the rest of his class do the same. Nezdu smiled and Hitoshi felt shivers run up his spine.

"I am also your homeroom teacher starting today. Now, come on dear children, we have orientation", Nezu said, walking towards the door. Hitoshi was stunned for a second before scrambling to follow behind the teacher.

Hitoshi was bored. The whole school, sans Class 1-A for whatever reason, was gathered in the giant hall in the fourth building. Nezu-sensei (should Hitoshi call him that?) was giving his speech about UA's educational system or something. The same green boy was beside Hitoshi, muttering lowly and-

Where did that notebook come from-

"Shut. Up." someone whispered, making the green boy tense up and curl in one himself. Some of the students that were close chuckled.

Welp, he was being loud. But Hitoshi knew how it felt to be laughed at, and he wouldn't want that.

Hitoshi tapped on the green boy's shoulder, making him squeak a little. Hitoshi put (read: tried to put) an open face, gesturing to his pencil and book. The boy tilted his head, hesitantly passing it over to Hitoshi.

'hey. im shinsou hitoshi. you?'

Hitoshi passed the book and pencil back to the boy, watching as he read the writing. The boy looked up, studying Hitoshi, but wrote something back.

'I'm Midoriya Izuku. Uhm, have you by any chance gone to a cafe called Beany Bakery-?'

'yeah... you bumped into me right? ur hair reminds me of fava'

'Fava? And yeah, IM REALLY SORRY'

'nah, it's chill. fava is the green cat, kinda looks like u honestly'

'Uh.. I don't wanna be rude but why are you talking through the paper?'

'im selectively mute'

'OMG IM SO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO OFFEND YOU OR ANYTHING'

'bro, calm down. its fine. thanks for letting me use ur notebook tho'

'It's fine... most people don't like me muttering so I guess like this I'm not loud.'

'people are jerks, dont mind them. we should probably focus on the assembly tho, or at least look like were focusing'

Hitoshi looked at the boy (Midoriya, his brain supplied), who nodded and smiled.

Hitoshi nodded.

That didn't go half as bad as Hitoshi expected.

Everyone was back in their classes. Hitoshi watched as Nezu climbed his step stool. "Now, we'll be doing a short introduction before I explain how this year will go", the rat(?) pointed to seat number one, "Following your seat number, please tell us your name and a fun fact about you."

Hitoshi made sure to pay attention. As much as he didn't feel like he'd get friends, if a time ever came up where he had to know their names, he wouldn't embarrass himself.

Seat number one was occupied by Hyouteki Shutobi. His fun fact is that he's lactose intolerant (Why is that a fun fact? Also Hitoshi swore he saw the same boy drinking milk as he was coming into class).

Seat number two, right behind Hyouteki-san, was Tsukikai Surukei. His fun fact is that he had an older brother (are all fun facts not fun?).

Seat number 3 was Torikae Mieru. They were the one with feathers on their forearms. Their fun fact was that they can eat 3 takoyaki at the same time (Ok seriously- what are these fun facts-)

Hitoshi pleasantly noted that no one mentioned their quirks.

Then Midoriya came up. "H-hi. M-my name's Mi-mi-midoriya Izuku. I- um- really like k-katsudon."

Number six, the first table of Hitoshi's row, was a girl named Kyakuchi Chaku. She seemed just as anxious as Midoriya, but managed to say that she likes designing.

Number 7 was... eccentric. "Hi!! The name's Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Industries! I'm here cause I wanna make more babies!" Hitoshi was so confused.

Behind Hatsume-san was the invisible girl, Hagakure Tooru. Apparently she can lick her elbow but no one can confirm it so-

Right in front of Hitoshi was a guy named Tachikawa Kin. He has a flirtatious tone to his voice. He's left handed.

And then it was Hitoshi's turn. Fuck, he didn't think this far, how is he supposed to-

"Shinsou-kun", Nezu called, "is it ok if I explain to your classmates?"

Oh, ok that helps.

Hitoshi nods, and Nezu called everyone's attention to him. "Shinsou-kun here is selectively mute. Now, UA has a zero tolerance policy towards any type of discrimination", Hitoshi noticed Nezu's eyes stay on Midoriya for a second longer, "so if I find that any of you are treating Shinsou-kun differently, you will be expelled."

Hitoshi fidgeted with his fingers, this felt weird. Unusual.

"Now, unfortunately my paws make it so that I have some difficulty using JSL, but I can understand it perfectly. Some of our staff have basic knowledge in it, though if you want to talk to someone, then Present Mic, Eraserhead, Midnight and Thirteen are fluent too. Now, how do you feel about writing your introduction on the board.

Hitoshi quickly nodded, awkwardly walking to the front of the class. He held the marker in his hands, writing on the giant whiteboard.

'My name is Shinsou Hitoshi. Please call me Hitoshi if you don't mind. I love cats.'

Just as quickly as he stood up he sat down, looking at his hands instead of the class.

"Alright. Now, let's go through the explanations shall we? This is quite tedius, so let's make this quick."

Out of nowhere a projector screen rolled down, revealing a PowerPoint (that was honestly very professional looking).

"Let's go through the details. If you have any questions keep them until I say so. Now, as I've said multiple times before, you all are part of Project Underground, a new program to make more underground heroes, as less and less people feel the need for them. Underground heroes are important however, they deal with the more dark side of society, the drug business, human trafficking, cults and more. Of course, you children are still young, and I hope that you won't need to see any of these until you're all older."

The slide changed, "This is the first time we've ever done something like Project Underground, so you kids are considered special in a way. You will have an extra period just like the other hero course students, which would be the time we practice heroics. If anyone asks you why you children have an extra period when you're not the hero course, tell them Nedzu made you. No one will ask more questions."

Well isn't that ominous.

"You will have heroics during that extra period, since most hero course students have normal classes and the rest of the students have gone home. Aizawa will be your main teacher, along with another teacher occasionally. After Aizawa and I have gotten a good grasp on your strengths, I will assign each of you specific teachers. This is to help you improve, and so you will sometimes train with your assigned hero and other times with Aizawa as normal. Yes, Hatsume-san?"

"You said I could make babies! Can I? Oh can I can I can I???"

Again, what.

"Yes, Hatsume-san. Though I do suggest stop calling your inventions babies in public, it may sound odd. I know some of you received invites based on other skills. If I'm correct, Hatsume-san and Tsukikai-san were called for their inventing abilities. I assure you, you will mostly be inventing support items for your classmates. As are the ones who got invited for medical training."

"See, villains are getting smarter, stronger. Nowadays, they band together and fight in bigger numbers. The objective of Project Underground is to form some sort of group that work together closely. I hope in these three years you spend together, you will grow closer and trust one another. When you graduate as heroes, you depend on each other, support each other."

Nezu's face moved akin to a grimace, "Apologies, that went a little dark, no? Let's move onto the facilities you get access to..."

Hitoshi was mentally exhausted. So much information was given to him, with all the specifics of the project to the names of his classmates to finding out Eraserhead (the Eraserhead how cool is that?!) would be teaching him heroics to remembering the civilian names of some heroes that are now teaching him.

It was now the final period (also known as the heroics period) and Hitoshi was patiently waiting while staring out the window. He could see Midoriya vibrate (from excitement?) in his seat from the reflection. Hagakure was chatting quite loudly with Hatsume. Hyouteki was drinking milk (ok, isn't he lactose intolerant Hitoshi knows that brand doesn't have a dairy substitute-)

The door slammed open, revealing Eraser- Aizawa, no longer in his caterpillar...thing. "Go to the PE grounds and change into these", Eraser- Aizawa said, tossing the PE uniform. "I'll show you the underground version another day, we're doing a Quirk Apprehension Test. And bring your bags."

And like that he left. What the heck.

Hitoshi quickly followed the instructions, he's heard the rumours of Aizawa-sensei's expulsions that has been circulating around during the orientation. Although Class 1-C wasn't his class, Hitoshi has no doubt that he'd still be able to expel Hitoshi is he wanted.

"Hey, uh- Hitoshi-san? Hi- It's me again..." Midoriya appeared beside Hitoshi, who just nodded. Midoriya seemed ok with that response though, continuing to mumble about something as he kept with Hitoshi's pace.

They quickly changed into their PE uniforms, although both ignored each other's scars. It was fine, it was too early into their friendship (are they friends..?) to talk about past trauma. Hitoshi didn't want to think about the scars on his back and he's pretty sure Midoriya wouldn't want to talk about the scars on his shoulder and hands.

Slowly, the rest of their classmates arrived, talking between themselves. Aizawa-sensei was there, his eyebags as prominent as Hitoshi's were.

"It took you 10 minutes to change into your PE clothes. At this rate, you wouldn't be able to respond quickly to emergency situations. Nevermind that, you, with the black bangs, yes you."

Hyouteki stepped forward. "How far could you throw a ball normally?"

"Uhm, around 50 meters."

"Now, try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes just stay in the circle", Aizawa-sensei said, passing the ball to Hyouteki.

The boy seemed hesitant at first, afterall, Hitoshi assumed most of the people in Class-C doesn't have a strong 'heroic' quirk. The boy looked ahead of his seemingly squinting his eyes. He swung his arm back and threw the ball.

The ball became a blur before it hit a lamppost dead on.

Damn.

Hyouteki Shutobi. Quirk: Sights, like the aim thing on a rifle. He can lock onto any target and accelerate an object. His acceleration doesn't work without locking on to a target. Although his quirk could work on robots, he didn't get enough points to qualify normally.

Why do I hear Yamada-sensei's voice in my head-

"640.5 meters", Aizawa announced, showing the screen of his phone. "I know most of you have non-physical quirks, but if I see any of you taking this lightly", Aizawa growled, hair and capture weapon rising and eyes glowing red, "You will be expelled."

Omg it's erasure in action-!!

"It's Eraserhead", Midoriya whispered to himself, a soft sigh of amazement.

Hitoshi tapped his shoulder, trying to talk to him.

'You know him too?'

Midoriya tilted his head. Argh.

You. He pointed to the boy. Know. He pointed to his head. Him. He nudged his head towards Eraserhead's general direction. Too? He did 2 fingers.

"You know him too?" Midoriya asked, to which Hitoshi nodded. Apparently that was a great thing, because the shorter boy went all fanboy on him, spewing out info Hitoshi wasn't sure how the boy found.

"Quiet." Aizawa-sensei said, making all of them tense up again. "Let's get to it, I want to sleep as soon as I can".

The first test was the 50-Meter Dash. Hitoshi just ran normally, he was up against Hatsume. She still muttered about 'babies' while she watched the other students, Hitoshi noticed her pupils (which were some kind of cross pattern) expand and contract.

Hitoshi was beside Midoriya waiting to the other students to finish as Midoriya muttered to himself.

"Herquirkmustbesomethingrelatedtohereyessincethatstheonlyobvious--"

"Why yes, stranger!!" Hatsume appeared behind them, Midoriya seemingly unbothered and continued to write faster in his notebook. "It's called zoom! I can see up to 5 kilometers! Helps me make my babies", at the last sentence, Midoriya turned a bright red.

Hatsume Mei. As she said, her quirk, zoom, allows her to zoom when looking at something, which helps her observe details for her inventions.

"B-babies?" he asked timidly.

"YUP! Like these!" she said as she took off her googles, slamming them onto Midoriya's eyes. Hitoshi just stared. "Oh cool!! It has infrared vision!"

"D-do you m-mean inventions when y-you say b-b-babies?"

"They are my babies, I made them!"

Hitoshi just nodded.

Eventually the next test came, grip strength. Hitoshi did... average, he wasn't that strong, but the hand-to-hand practice he'd done was helpful. Midoriya was deceitfully strong despite his small looking body. Hatsume somehow got the highest mark, which was uh- scary.

Then came the long jump. Torikae-san seemed to stare at Hitoshi, who had already gone. Hitoshi felt a shiver run up his spine and suddenly he was back at the start of the long jump, Torikae-san next to Midoriya where Hitoshi used to be.

Torikae Mieru. Quirk: Apport. They can switch the places of any 2 items as long as the values are the same. It works for humans, but as their quirk deems humans worthless, the switching depends on their clothing any items on the person.

Again, why do I hear Present Mic...

"Awe man!!" They groaned next to Midoriya. "I wanted to switch with you green dude, cause you look lighter. Either you have some sort of expensive thing in you or you happen to have some bills in your pocket cause I couldn't switch with you." They pouted, before being bombarded by Hatsume and Midoriya's questions.

Hitoshi just walked back to the other side, hopefully the quirk doesn't have any extra effects.

The next few tests were basics like toe-touch (is Hagakure really touching her toes???), sit ups and distance run.

No more quirks were revealed, and Hitoshi got a decent 5th place, Midoriya just at 6th.

"No one is getting expelled, that was a mere logical ruse. Class dismissed, I want to sleep", he announced, before immediately disappearing from sight.

Amazing.

"H-hey, Hi-hitoshi-san..." Midoriya started, voice low, "Do you maybe want to um- walk home with me? I-I mean you don't h-have to I just-"

Hitoshi snapped his fingers, nodding. Midoriya beamed, before continuing to talk about how cool Eraserhead was. He didn't seem to mind that Hitoshi couldn't respond, the boy was barely breathing as he fanboy-ed.

"Uhm- This is my stop..so", Midoriya said awkwardly, fidgeting with his fingers, "I guess.. uh- goodbye?"

Right, goodbye.

Hitoshi took out his phone (an old design, Hitoshi was pretty sure they were at least 13 new versions), handing it to Midoriya.

"Oh... you want my number?" Hitoshi nodded. The green boy hesitated, looking at Hitoshi warily (not that Hitoshi would blame him) before typing it in. The phone was passed back to Hitoshi, who quickly messaged the boy.

now we can talk

Yeah ^^

Midoriya smiled (Hitoshi squinted his eyes, was there no clouds today?) before running off to catch a train, waving.

Hitoshi nodded in his direction, before walking away to his own train. He could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket, no doubt his green haired friend.

Huh.

Friend.

Hitoshi smiled, he had a friend now.