Chapter 12: Making A Club
When we got back to the class after changing back into our normal clothes, I wrote my name and phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Momo, who did the same before passing it on. By the time we were all in class, I had a list of names.
Not everyone signed. Mineta, Shoji, and Deku were of course not able to sign just yet. Considering two of them were injured and one looked like a cosplay of a concrete shoggoth. Poor Shoji...
Bakugo didn't sign. I was so 'shocked'. In other words, it was pretty much what I expected. The kid was mostly ignoring the world, almost depressed.
Shoto didn't sign as well, but that was only slightly less surprising. He struck me as the type of guy who loved training by himself. Everyone else signed it though, which was honestly what surprised me. I'd figured at least a couple of the kids would be too lazy to join. They certainly had more discipline than I did in my first go around in high school.
That or they were just signing it. A signature wasn't the same as an obligation. Not until I got the lawyers involved at least.
As I huffed an amused chuckle at my own joke, the door slid open. I looked up, expecting the science teacher. Instead, the tall form of Shoji stood in the doorway. He had some raw sections of skin, and looked as though he'd showered recently, but otherwise looked pretty good. Even had his mask back. And Mineta followed him.
"Hey, what's up guys!" Kaminari said, turning to look at them with a grin. "You missed a crazy day!"
"I believe we were part of that day," a weary Shoji said from one of the mouths of his tentacle.
"Don't even start!" Mineta flopped down into his seat wearily. He groaned, laying his head on his desk. "My whole body is sore!"
"Look's like you healed up pretty well though!" Mina said, poking at his cheek playfully. "I gotta say, I didn't know you had anything like that in you. That was pretty cool."
"Yes, well done!" Momo said in agreement.
Almost magically, all his exhaustion seemed to fade. He grinned. It was an honestly happy smile, a bit of joy in it. Then he seemed to realize that while Mina was poking him playfully on the cheek, her thighs were at his eye level. I know, because I saw it the second his smile shifted to a joyous leer.
I walked over and smacked my palm down his desk before he could get a really good look surprising Mina and Mineta.
"Eep!" Mina yelped.
"Ya!" he jumped in surprise, staring up at me. He immediately got defensive. "Wha-What was that fo-"
"Here," I handed him a pencil, then pointed at the paper I'd smacked in front of him. He stared down at it. "You should join the after school club. I think you can be a damn good hero man. You too, Shoji. You've got good powers, some serious fucking grit, and a lot of cojones."
"C-Cojones?" Mineta quirked his head, confused. "What are cojones?
"Spanish. Means a man's testicles, or guts."
In the background, Mina busted out laughing. I ignored it to say the hardest part.
"Also. I'm gonna apologize for being a lot meaner than you deserved," I felt embarrassed. "I shouldn't have said you have no redeeming features. You've got spirit. So, I'm sorry."
Mineta stared at me. Then he grinned, hopping up onto the desk. "Ooooohhhh! Now that you've seen my greatness, you've finally apologized! Well, there couldn't have been any other result!" he said with a bit of smugness.
I reached out and grabbed him by his head while he was still preening. His smug grin froze a bit as I leaned forward and whispered so the others couldn't hear, my eyes staring into his.
"Kid. I gave you an apology. Learn to quit while you're ahead."
"...Y-Yeah."
"And please, calm it down with how you treat girls. It's okay to be a pervert. Almost everyone likes sex, it's not a crime. It's not okay to intrude on the privacy and space of others. So tone it back and I won't make a complaint to faculty to see if detention or worse punishments change your mind. Learn from your mistake."
Somehow, I don't think that part sunk in as much, as he mostly just grimaced a bit. That was fine. I made my point. I let go of him and grinned.
"Still. I underestimated you. So sorry and nice job."
The science teacher came in then, and I sat down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mineta glare at the paper. Then he signed it and passed it to Shoji.
Okay. Mineta might grow on me just yet.
I looked at the teacher only to blink.
She looked completely normal. She wore a science lab coat and a small red mask, but looked otherwise normal. No craziness to her costume, no mutations. She looked us over. "All right, kids. I'm Vector, the UA science teacher. Today we'll be going over the curriculum. Take out your textbooks."
"So normal…" Sato and I said in twin surprise. All of our teachers had been just a bit crazy so far, or at least looked super out there. Present Mic was loud, Midnight was pervy, Aizawa was gruff and lazy. This was the first somewhat normal teacher.
Mina leaned over to Kaminari, who chuckled at whatever she said. The teacher, who had been writing on the board, clearly heard it.
She spun around. That was when I realized her pupils shifted until they looked like a pair of red dot sights in a black pupil. "No talking!"
Her left hand pulled a rubber ball from her pocket before she tossed it up. As the ball came down, she bounced her hip outwards. The rubber ball went zooming past Momo's ear, bounced off the wall, then cross the room to hit Mina in the back of the head before snapping to the side and bouncing off Kaminari's chin before landing back in her palm. The whole thing took less than a second.
"Ow!/Owie!" Kaminari and Mina shouted, grabbing their head and chin respectively.
She shook her head. "Science is full of danger. It is a wonderful art, giving us knowledge of the inner workings of the universe! But to study science is to contest with a world that is unforgiving, beautiful, and dangerous as a hurricane!" She bounced the rubber ball in her hand, smiling beautifully. "Be silent, learn, and you will learn to rule the natural world itself!"
I swear to god, she somehow managed to look both incredibly enthusiastic and terrifying. Actually, she kind of reminded me of the female Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. Same energy, if different in appearance.
Sato and I shared a look.
Okay, fine. Every teacher at UA was weird.
------
After science, we were left in the class to do a bit of cleanup. Traditional class things in Japan. But sweeping up took like six seconds, then we started chatting about the training.
"Honestly, I wish I had a way to track people," Kirishima said with some chagrin. "I ran through the whole place trying to find Asui-san, and she just went right back to where I started."
"I had to," Tsuyu said bluntly. "You're too tough for me to beat, Kirishima-san, and I didn't want to run around and get tired or try to get you with the capture tape while you tried to punch me."
Kirishima brightened a bit, though he still seemed a bit down about his loss.
"Speaking of that fight," Kaminari said, the lightning kid looking a bit disheartened himself. "I really need to learn a new way to control my powers. They kinda worked while I was touching Kirishima, but then I went all… you know."
"Oh, we know," Jiro said, grinning at him as she swung one of her earphone jacks around and around. "It was hilarious!"
"Heeeeeey," Kaminari frowned at her, though he didn't seem that offended.
A similar discussion was being had on the other side of the room.
"Yaomomo, your power was so good!" Mina said with some contrition. "It was so hard to get through those plates too!"
"Well, I attempted to use a metal that would be tough to corrode through without compromising strength," Momo said humbly, though she was also smiling. "But I underestimated the strength of the acids you can create! Are you able to change the chemical mixture you use on the fly?"
"I don't know!" Mina said, Momo blinking at the enthusiastic denial. "I never thought about it. I usually just make it strong or weak as I need."
"Oh, that is interesting," Momo pressed a finger to her chin. "Maybe if we could figure out what sort of liquid your acid technically is, you can figure out other possibilities for it? We would need samples, but-"
"Shoto's power was pretty damn overwhelming," I told Shoji, Mineta, and Iida, all of us standing around Shoji. "I'm pretty strong, but the ice he was making was still strong enough to slow me down. It doesn't help that his instincts are top-notch. Kid has a reaction time like lightning."
"Indeed," Shoji agreed. "His quirk is quite formidable."
"And his technique is impeccable as well," Iida said, nodding to Ochaco as she came over to join us. She'd been with Kirishima and Mina trying to stop Bakugo from leaving, before his grumpy ass headed out the door, and looked a bit downtrodden that she failed. "Truly a formidable set of talents."
"You did good too though!" Ochaco cheered up, looking up at me with her head craned back, pumping a fist as she spoke enthusiastically. "You kept smashing all his ice! And I didn't know you could breathe fire!"
"I can't, actually. I'm just really good at rap," I joked. "Thank you though. Felt good to let loose like that. It was fun, pushing myself to my limits in a fight. Hopefully we get more chances to do that soon. How about you guys?"
"I'm afraid I didn't have the same experience," Shoji said. "My own fight was more based on attrition, rather than any sort of exhilarating experience, thanks to Mineta."
"I'm not apologizing," Mineta said, crossing his arms. "Because you punched me a bunch! That whole fight was terrifying!"
"Our own battle was interesting," Iida said to Ochaco. "I found your abilities more useful for direct combat than I expected. Manipulation of gravity is quite formidable!"
"I liked that you acted like a villain!" Ochaco said cheerfully, giggling a bit. "You were so cheesy!"
"Hey, cheesy villains are fun," I said, patting Iida on his back. "Real life villains are dicks. Cheesy villains are at least enjoying their lives."
I suddenly hoped that the Big Bad of this universe wasn't cheesy. I'd hate it if my words bit me in the ass.
"Ochaco-san," Kaminari said, walking over. "We better grab those books."
"Oh, right! See you guys soon!"
The gravity girl and lightning lad headed out, and I drifted over to Tokoyami. "Hey bro. How are you?"
"I'm contemplating my battle," he said seriously. "As well as deciding how to counter my own weaknesses. For one who rests in the darkness, finding the way to truth is a challenge only the unwavering may succeed in."
I stared at him for a good moment. So wait. Tokoyami was some kind of emo kid? Why hadn't I known this? "...That sounds good. Granted, Momo really went all in with the gear. I think you did as well as someone could considering the circumstances. Flashbangs and tear gas are MEAN."
"I didn't mind," Tokoyami said nonchalantly. "In a battle, I would be offended if my opponent did not put their full effort into the fight, whether it ends in my win or loss."
"Same," I said, thinking of a few times. Most of them were related to video games or card games though. "Few things more annoying than fighting someone and finding out they didn't have enough respect to put everything they got into it. By the way, I'd love to spar with you one day dude."
He smiled just a bit. "Oh? Is that so? You may find me to be more of a challenge than you believe."
"I got a vivid imagination," I grinned at him in challenge. Fighting Dark Shadow would be such a damn blast.
The door to the class slid open and Deku walked into the room. Kirishima's loud voice rang out.
"Oh, Midoriya's here!" The redhead went over to the greenette excitedly. "Good work!"
"Ah?" Deku's eyes widened in surprise.
"Man, I don't know what you were saying during the match," Kirishima continued. "But you were fired up!"
Not seeing any reason not to, I gave Tokoyami a polite nod and walked over, Mina, Aoyoma, Sato, and Sero joining in.
"I can't believe you fought evenly with Bakugo!" Sero said, the tape guy grinning. "He was first in the entrance exam!"
"You did a good job dodging!" Mina said excitedly.
"And throwing godlike punches," I added, standing over the rest of the group.
"Yeah, you guys were so cool we had to give it our all as well!" Sato said.
Aoyoma, a smile on his face, spoke up. "You were far from elegant, but-"
"You kicked ass/You did a good job dodging!" Mina and I said in unison, the pink girl bouncing up and down excitedly as she repeated herself with a wide grin.
"H-Huh?" Deku said at the flood of praise.
Everyone introduced themselves to Deku, with Tsuyu and Mineta coming in as well.
"Seriously dude, you were great," I told him seriously. "But seriously, we got to work on that quirk of yours hurting you like that."
"Ah," he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. I'm still getting the hang of things."
"I feel for you!" Kirishima pointed at a scar above his eye. "When I was a kid, I cut myself with my quirk."
"Accidentally crushed a cup of chocolate milk in my hand and cut myself," Sato said in agreement.
"I accidently broke my kitchen counter while I was still getting used to my strength," I added. "It takes time, but you'll figure it out. You should sign up for the after school club we're gonna make."
"After school club?" Deku asked, embarrassment turning into curiosity.
"It was Bowser's idea," Kirishima said, pointing a thumb at me. "We want to get together and train with the other hero class after school, trade ideas and spar!"
"Oh, that does sound interesting," Deku said thoughtfully.
"Then I'll get the sign-up sheet for you!" I turned to get it, noting Iida scolding Tokoyami for sitting on his desk, but ignored it to grab the sheet. While I was doing that, Ochaco and Kaminari came back in. I'd just picked up the sheet when Momo came up to me.
"Bowser-san," she said politely. "Are you ready to go to the administration office?"
"Yeah, just need to grab Izuku's signature," I told her.
"Wonderful! Oh, what about your friends from I-B?" she asked with a hint of worry.
"They'll meet us there, don't worry. Let me just… Oh… Right."
Deku was gone.
Somehow, despite everything, I'd forgotten that Deku was going to have his little moment with Bakugo in front of the school. Not a little moment actually. A BIG moment.
...A moment I'd have to miss.
Damn it. I'd really wanted to hear Ochaco's whole 'the fated battle between men!' thing. That was adorable. But I'd...
"I'll have him sign it later I guess. Iida!" I called for the bespectacled kid as I grabbed my bag. "We're headed out."
"Understood!" he said, waving his hands jerkily.
Momo got her own bag and we headed out together.
------
"So Bowser-san, who are we meeting?" Momo asked me. We were walking in line, Momo in between us with Iida on her left and me on her right.
"My friend Pony Tsunotori and her classmates," I explained. "I don't know who she's bringing, but they'll be there for the same reason as us. Hopefully, if the teachers give us permission, we can all sit down and organize this whole thing correctly."
"Will there be a kaichou?" Iida asked, looking VERY interested in the position of club president. "Or a captain, possibly, considering the physical nature of our studies."
"Maybe," I said thoughtfully. After school clubs in Japan were serious business in my old world, and they'd continued that way here. They weren't just a way to hang out. They were a serious commitment and could look DAMN good on a college application. And at a school like this, that was even more so. "For now, let's just get permission. I don't want to decide on a captain before we actually have a club."
"That would be logical," Momo agreed, Iida stroking his chin behind her as we approached the administration office.
"Bowser!" Pony's voice drew my attention. She was waiting outside of the door with Kendo and Monoma. She waved as we walked up. "You have a sign up sheet!"
"Yep, right here," I handed it to her while Monoma smirked at us.
"OHOHOHOHO! So Class 1-A arrives after us!? I guess you aren't as dedicated as one would believe!"
Momo and Iida stared at him, nonplussed, as he began to laugh, giving them the anime crazy eyes. "Class A is supposed to be better than Class B, so isn't that strange! PERHAPS BEING ON TOP HAS LED YOU TO BECOME LAZY! HAHAHAHA-"
Kendo karate-chopped in the back of his head, Momo and Iida gaping in shock at the sight of him falling to the ground while Pony and I watched. "W-What!?"
"Sorry about that," Kendo said casually, smiling at them. "He's not a very good human being."
"So brutal," Iida whispered in shock.
"Monoma's used to it," I said. "Guys, this is Pony Tsunotori, my best friend in the world."
"Hi!"
"Itsuka Kendo, a badass martial arts chick."
"I like that description!" Kendo said with a fist raised proudly.
"And Neito Monoma, a living meme."
"Hello," Monoma said weakly, raising a hand to wave from his position on the floor.
"This is Momo Yaoyorozu, a living cheat code to the universe."
She bowed politely, then blinked. "Living cheat code?"
"And this is Tenya Iida. He's fast as fuck, boy."
"I do not approve of your language, but you are correct," Tenya said seriously. "Greetings."
"So, let's go in there and ask for permission to punch each other," I said, knocking lightly before opening the door and entering.
"Maybe let's not word it that way," Pony said as she followed me in.
Inside the office, Ectoplasm, our mathematics teacher, was standing near Aizawa and Vlad, who were sitting at their desks talking with him. The trio looked up at our entrance, confusion on their faces as we came around to approach them.
"Kids? What are you doing here?" Ectoplasm said. Gotta say, his voice was badass. "Is there something wrong."
"No, Ectoplasm-sensei," Momo said. "We came to ask for something, and we wanted to understand what the process would be."
"Oh?" Aizawa leaned back in his chair. "And you needed classmates from both A and B?"
"It's something both classes wanted," Pony said, handing the sign-up sheets to Vlad. "We would like to create an after school club to train together."
"And we'd like to have use of some of the facilities if possible," I added as Vlad and Aizawa took a look at the sheets. "I looked into it, and there didn't seem to be any clubs available for that already."
"Because they'd fall apart in the middle of the year," Aizawa said with a bit of sass. "Students eventually become interns, then sidekicks in some cases. It's not really worth creating a club when most of the students involved in it will disappear for weeks to do other work."
"That's something we can easily work around," I said. "It doesn't need to be an everyday thing. As long as we can get a chance to meet up and compare notes, spar, share ideas, play out scenarios, that could be valuable for us."
"He may be from Class A, but he's right," Monoma said.
"Dude… you gotta let that grudge go."
"Monoma, you would listen to someone from Class A?" Vlad asked, as though some deep betrayal had happened.
"Never mind, I see where it comes from."
Both Monoma and Vlad ignored me, while Kendo and Pony sighed. Monoma continued.
"Vlad-sensei, I know. But having time after class to dedicate to our heroic studies can be good. Plus, it was also Pony's idea."
"Really?" Vlad looked over at her. She nodded.
"Well, I honestly don't care as long as I don't have to spend time on it," Aizawa said bluntly.
"Gotta take care of that sparkling social life, huh?" I joked.
He gave me a glare, while Vlad coughed out a laugh. "That sounds like something someone who doesn't want their new club to be approved would say."
"Sorry," I said quickly. He smirked just a bit, speaking again.
"The process for a club is the same as every other school in Japan. You need a room or facility, an advisor, and a kaicho. I think we can sign off on you using one of the Battle Grounds as long as Cementoss has no issue with repairing whatever damage you all cause. Ken's usually okay with it, says it's good for his training, but it would be polite for you to ask. You'll need an advisor as well, and like I said, I'm not doing it on top of my other responsibilities."
"I'm afraid I would be in the same boat," Vlad said seriously. Then he looked over at Ectoplasm.
"I believe I can help," the tall teacher said. "I do have the mathematics club, but my quirk allows me to help multiple clubs and individuals if need be. I'll extend an offer to the other teachers if you like? I know Midnight would help."
"No, I'll do it," Aizawa said with an annoyed huff.
"If you could let some of the general education, support, and business students know they can join up as well, that would be good," I said.
Everyone looked at me, surprised. Aizawa quirked an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"
"Because learning how to defend yourself until the police or a hero can arrive and save you is a good skill to have. Besides, it helps everyone. We have more kids to practice with, we can train the general education kids that want to eventually shift to the hero course, the support course gets a chance to really work on their tech, and the business course will interact with the people they might one day be working with."
"Hm," Aizawa folded up the sign-up sheet. "Well, I'll let you spread the word," he told Vlad. "Now, how about a leader?"
"Iida and Kendo," I said quickly. Both of them stared at me, surprised.
"Bowser-kun, don't you want to be kaicho?" Pony asked me.
"Or me!" Monoma said, pointing at his own face.
I gave him a look before turning to Vlad and Aizawa.
"Nah, I'm good. I think we should have a leader from each class, so that both Hero classes are represented, rather than any sort of favoritism. Iida should be a kaicho because he's a responsible dude who would take the job seriously and do everything he can to make the club work. Kendo should lead because she can handle anyone who gets uppity, doesn't take any shit, and is all around cool. So they have my vote," I looked over at Monoma. "That, and I'm worried that Monoma's first decree if he became president is that Class A students have to bow every time he passes."
Monoma seemed to think about that. Then he smiled. A beautiful, childlike smile.
Dude had issues…
"All right then," Aizawa got to his feet. "Always nice when people add more work to my plate."
"Sorry, sensei," Momo said, Pony nodding in agreement.
He waved it off. "Not your fault. It's a good idea. I'll get this started, maybe send Cementoss your way if he has any suggestions for where to practice. You all come up with how you want this little club to be set up. Hopefully you don't come to me a month from now with excuses for why it didn't work."
"None of us have resolve that weak," Monoma said.
Aizawa smirked a bit, and walked off.
"Thanks, sensei," I called to Aizawa, getting a wave. I turned to Ectoplasm and Vlad. "Same to you. Thank you very much. We'll make you proud."
------
Once we left the room, we stood in the hallway.
"Bowser," Iida said. "Are you sure about this? This whole thing was your idea. I can step down if you'd like to lead with Kendo-san."
"And Pony's," I said, nodding to her as she smiled. "And I'm sure. And if you do step down, I'm nominating Momo," I looked over at her. "In fact, you were just as much a candidate as Iida. I had to pick between you two, since she's got as many qualifications as you do."
"Ah," Momo blinked up at me, looking a little hurt. "Then, why didn't you pick me?"
"There wasn't a reason. I flipped a coin," Momo and Iida sweatdropped, while Pony slammed my side. "What! They're both super-smart and dedicated students! Both could be great leaders for us. So I couldn't decide."
"And me?" Kendo asked, looking a little confused. "Why did you suggest me? We've only met once."
"Because of Pony," I explained. "She told me that you've already taken a bit of a leadership role in Class B. Monoma's attitude already makes me think that others in the class might be feeling the same, so I knew we'd need two leaders. And I'm a good judge of character. You strike me as a leader right off the bat. After all, you got that awesome onee-san energy."
"He's right," Pony said, nodding quickly. "You sort of act like everyone's big sister already!"
"I still say I should just be the overall leader," Monoma said, brushing back his hair with a dramatic cartoon flourish. Then he became a bit more serious. "But I can accept Kendo."
"That said, we'll all help you as much as possible," I bowed. "So, captains. Let's go draw up some plans together?"
Iida and Kendo shared a look. Then she raised a determined fist, while he adjusted his glasses. "Okay. Then I will humbly accept."
"Let get this started then! Let's go to a cafe and talk it out!" Kendo said cheerfully. "Come on!"
"Oh, but what should we name our club?" Momo asked, before we could leave. "Something simple, like the hero club?"
"No, it needs to be much more dramatic!" Monoma said, waving a hand. "Like the Monoma Troupe!"
"The Koopa Troopas," I said jokingly. Although I wouldn't have minded if they said yes, just for the hilarity factor."
"You just stole my idea!" Monoma said, scowling at me.
"I mean, I did steal it, but not from you," I admitted.
"I want us to be the UA Sentai!" Pony said, skipping forward to look at us. "Because we're going to be heroes. And we're going to work together. Just like the Super Sentai."
"Hmm," Iida rubbed his chin. "It does carry heroic connotations. And they have a well-respected history in Japan."
Welcome to the future of Japan, where Jojo, Pokemon, and Super Sentai have the same significance as any mythology or history of my previous time period. Truly, I live in enlightened times.
"That might make people think we're a military unit," Momo said worriedly. She had a point. Sentai was used mostly for the heroes nowadays, but it was still used for it's previous connotations.
"Then we'll be the UA Super Sentai," Kendo said, rubbing Pony's head. "It's a good name."
"It's a proper nerd name. I love it," I said with a grin. "Hell, there's even six of us! Clearly I'm the Pink Sentai, since I'm the prettiest."
"Sixth Sentai!" Monoma called before they could process that. "The coolest and best every time!"
"Wait, then which of us is Red?" Kendo asked Iida, who seemed lost that this conversation was even happening.
"Which Sentai can be girls?" Momo asked Pony, sounding more like she was asking for help with her studies than about hypothetically becoming a mecha piloting super hero.
We headed to the cafe, joking about that all the while.
Chapter 13: Before USJ Arc
We came up with some pretty good ideas together. Just like I thought, Iida and Kendo were perfect as Co-Kaicho's. Iida's rigid need for structure balanced well with Kendo's calmer, yet still strong demeanor. Which meant that he could nail in a pretty efficient way of conducting the club, but Kendo was always there to veto him when he would go a bit too far. Because there's being efficient, and then there is leaving literally no time for anything other than working out, studying and sleeping. What, eating? Why wouldn't you do that while studying!?
That aside, we came up with a solid system. We'd start by figuring out what we all needed as individuals. As a class, we really only needed space to interact with, but our individual quirks had specializations and needs to really get out their full potential. Some of us might need support items to overcome our weaknesses, some might need to just push our quirks harder, and some just needed to think of our quirks in a new way.
We had some ideas to figure out where we'd start with that stuff.
Monoma, as it turned out, was well suited for teaching others how to use their quirks, because he could try them out for himself. So that was interesting as hell to me, on multiple levels. But it also left me curious as to what would happen if he touched me.
See, since arriving in Japan, I'd spent some time contemplating my own nature. Was I a human with a quirk that made him look like Bowser, the same way that Godzillo's quirk made him a copy of Godzilla? Was I really a Bowser copy, right down to my DNA?
And even then, how would Quirk's like Monoma's react with my body? Or Aizawa-sensei's? It was like the question of if their quirks ONLY reacted with quirks, or if they could respond to, say, Kryptonian powers, Naruto chakra abilities, or other things like that. So if my powers weren't derived from a quirk, could they still have an effect on me? Or maybe just a muted effect in some way?
I put that question on the back burner for now to focus on the ideas we were sharing.
One other thing I brought up was the question of specialization. Not every hero was able to be the end all be all of heroics. Bakugo was fantastic in combat, but he didn't have the powers or the mindset for search and rescue. Koda was perfect for search and rescue, but the kid was a lover, not a fighter.
But that was fine. In the future, when we became heroes, we'd all need to find our place. Some would be jack-of-all-trades, some would be overly specialized, but we'd all have a way we could help, and dedicating some time to that would be great.
When the cafe closed, we separated for the night, planning to leave more discussion for tomorrow, though we traded phone numbers so that we could text later. Pony invited me to stay over at her place, so I slept over there, then we headed to school together.
Which of course, had its own problems.
------
"Wow, what are so many people doing at the gate?" Pony asked curiously as we approached the school.
I'd been off in my own world. A thought had occurred to me last night as I'd been about to sleep that was still hitting me in waves, so I wasn't in the best of mindsets. I looked towards the front entrance. There were dozens of people surrounding it. Cameras and microphones were being wielded like swords and shields at the kids trying to get to class. I could see Kaminari getting interviewed, the blonde posing with a grin before sweat dropping when the reporters turned away from him, the dejected kid walking into the gates.
"Reporters?" I asked, before I remembered. Oh right! The reporters! How the fuck did I forget about them!?
Damnit, I'd gotten so distracted. And I'd spent the whole night stressing over… So wait. That meant the decay asshole was somewhere nearby, ready to sneak into the school! Damnit. Then I needed to… do what, exactly?
Well, I did have a plan in place that I'd come up with a while back. For now though, the reporters were coming up to us. They eyed me nervously, but still approached. I blamed my school uniform. I don't care who you are, Darkseid, Darth Vader, or Frieza, nothing ruins the intimidation factor like a school uniform. That and Pony was next to me, so her cuteness was negating my badassery.
"Excuse me!" A mic was shoved into Pony's face. "You're a student at this school, right!? Have you taken any classes with All Might as a teacher? What is he like?"
"All Might-sensei?" Pony pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Well, he's very happy! And he always tells us how to do our best!"
The brown haired reporter lady looked somehow dissatisfied with that. What was she expecting, All Might to be the second coming of Great Teacher Onizuka?
"And you!?" she turned to me. Then she stared up. "Ah… Are you a student?"
"No, I got the uniform off the internet," I snarked.
She glared at me, while one guy in the back chuckled. "Have you taken a class with All Might as well! Do you have a comment for us!?"
Come on. You can't feed me lines like that and NOT expect me to take advantage.
I nodded. "Yeah. Here," I leaned forward. A mic approached my face. I coughed lightly, whispering just a bit.
"What? Sir, we can't hear you!" more mics came in closer. I took a soft breath, looking over at Pony and winking. Pony's eyes widened a bit before she snapped her hands over her ears.
"GRAAAAUGH!" a sound not unlike the echoing roar of a lion left my lungs, smashing into the crowd of reporters as they screamed in shock, some covering their ears in pain.
I stopped after a few seconds, coughing.
"W-What the hell was that for!?" the reporter lady shouted at me.
"I thought you wanted a comment?" I said with a grin, pushing past the crowd. At the door to the school, I could see Present Mic laughing his ass off while Aizawa-sensei rubbed his forehead.
"Kid, what the fuck!?" one other guy said.
"That was unnecessary! What are they teaching you at this school!?"
"They're teaching me a lot. But here's one thing I already know," I glared at them. "All Might-sensei came to this school to teach. Because, as a guy who has kicked butt for decades, he wanted to share some lessons he's learned. I doubt anyone can say the Symbol of Peace doesn't have some hard-earned teachings to share. And I admire him for that. I do not admire the lot of fucking vultures coming here to find a story or scandal for something this simple and reasonable! We are STUDENTS. You shouldn't be harassing kids to try and get a ratings bump! So the lot of you can kiss my fucking shell!"
I spun around, growling as I went.
I don't hate the media. They have a necessary job. But the way some of them acted. In those guys eyes, nothing mattered more than the story. The prospect of fame and fortune from destroying the lives of others. If the news was a weapon, it was one that could be wielded for good and evil alike. Fuck those guys.
I passed by Aizawa. He gave me a look, then sighed, heading to the gate. Present Mic followed, grinning. I was feeling stressed now. My anger at those assholes at the front, combined with the night I'd had...
"Bowser-kun?" Pony's voice drew my attention. I looked over at her. She was looking up at me, worried. "You okay? You've been distracted all day. And just now… You don't usually yell like that."
"Ah," damnit. "Yeah… just, have a lot on my mind. Been kinda worrying over a lot. Becoming a hero is going to have a lot more complications than I thought."
She looked at me with worried eyes, crossing one arm across her stomach while pressing a finger to her chin with the other hand. "What do you mean?"
"...I think, on some level, making the new club sort of awoke some new concerns in me that I didn't expect. I'm still processing it. Hopefully once we get together after school, I can assuage those concerns."
"What are the concerns?" Pony asked.
"I'll tell you later!" I turned and rushed off. "For now, get to class! See you later, Pony!"
"Bowser-kun!" she called after me. I sighed, pushing my stride a bit more. I just needed some time.
Today, the villains would infiltrate the school, then tomorrow would be the USJ thing. Okay. I could handle this shit. But first, to tell the class about our new club.
------
On getting to class early, Momo, Iida, and I gave the good news. Which led to unforeseen circumstances.
"You made Iida the leader?" Kaminari said, looking super skeptical. "That's not fair, you guys didn't let anyone else choose!"
"Yeah, we should have put it to a vote!" Mina whined, shaking her head.
"And we haven't even met the other person, Bowser," Kirishima said. "We're supposed to just accept her as our leader?"
"I…" I rubbed the back of my neck, looking at Iida, who seemed stricken. "Okay, that's fair. We'll figure it out then, maybe do a short campaign thing? But I honestly do think Iida has what it takes. And in the end, if we wanted to have a club, we needed a captain."
"I can understand expediency, but you really should have asked us first, kero," Tsuyu pointed out.
"I apologize, everyone," Iida bowed, looking contrite. "I was so touched by Bowser-san's offer that I didn't consider others wouldn't feel the same way."
"No, this is my fault," I said, swallowing my pride and bowing as well. "Everyone. I'm sorry. I promise, I'll be more considerate of the class's wishes from now on. But I implore you to consider Iida for captain. He has our best interests at heart, and will do everything in his power. Please, just wait to hear what he's already planned for club activities before you dismiss him."
Momo nodded, bowing as well next to Iida and I. "I agree. We've already come up with several ideas to help us reach our full potential! So please, be patient everyone! We'll meet after school and show you what we've worked on. Decide on who should be the UA Super Sentai captain afterwards."
"Besides, the team captains are going to be doing a LOT of boring paperwork. So, if you guys are down for that…" I pointed out.
Mina, Jirou, Kirishima, and Kaminari sweatdropped, while Ochaco chuckled a little bit. "Oh yeah, that's true…" the gravity girl mumbled.
"Paperwork isn't boring, it is a necessary part of our school experience, Bowser," Iida said sternly, Momo nodding in agreement with him. "It allows the UA Super Sentai to function!"
"Wait, that's the name of the club?" Jirou asked. "Who came up with that?"
I rose up from my bow. "My friend, Pony. I like it. We're all going to be heroes, so naming ourselves as some of the most famous ones is good."
Still. There was a dark thought the name had brought up in me later, when I'd been about to sleep in my shell. I'd been curled up inside in the living room of Pony and Tauren's home, drifting off, thinking about my day and the new club we'd made. And the sudden thought struck me.
Super Sentai died. They had in the past shows. It wasn't often. But while the one Power Rangers death I could remember in the shows eventually got reversed, I knew that Super Sentai could and had died.
I don't know why the thought consumed me so much. It was so fucking dumb! But it did. The brain just loves grabbing onto worries like that, no matter how ridiculous the source. Because that thought led to the next thought. One that had been on my mind all morning. That was on my mind as I stared around at Kirishima, Iida, Mina, Momo, Mineta, Tsuyu…
These kids were trying to become heroes. And heroes died. All the time.
I had to keep that from happening. No matter what.
Driving off those thoughts as best as could, I looked to my right, at Deku, only to blink.
He had his chin cupped, staring at the ground with tight eyes. He was mumbling at a high-speed. He had been for a while. I leaned in to listen.
"-ith-that-we-can-all-work-on-search-and-rescue-but-we-should-also-plan-for-cases-where-pure-combat-will-be-needed,so-some-of-us-will-have-to-plan-out-more-villain-and-hero-exercises,if-the-teachers-help-they-can-even-act-like-villains-for-us,I-should-really-think-on-what-sort-of-team-variations-we-can-make-with-forty-heroes-and-unique-quirks-"
"Man, he really overthinks things, huh?" Mina said, all of us watching as Hurricane Deku continued to blow.
"It's part of his charm," I said fondly. "Plus, when you actually listen, he's making some smart points. But anyways, you guys okay with the name?"
"I didn't really care either way, just sounds dorky," Jirou snarked, shrugging a bit.
"I like it! Super Sentai are super manly!" Kirishima said, pumping a fist. "Can I be Red!?"
"No, that would be Kendo," Iida said seriously. "I'm the sixth Green. Bowser is pink."
"Pink!?" Kaminari said, looking up at me.
"It brings out my eyes," I said, while Mina pouted.
"Seriously! You! I mean, just look at me!" Mina said, waving her hands up and down.
"Don't worry, you can be my understudy," I snarked.
"Bowser," I turned to see Aizawa-sensei at the door. I frowned. He was here a little early.
"Yeah, Sensei?"
He crooked his finger at me. "Come here."
"...Okay."
I rose and left the class to join him in the hallway. I stood before him, ready for anything.
"From now on, when the media is looking for a scoop, don't feed them one on a silver platter," Aizawa said without preamble. "Your little stunt has led to those 'vultures' claiming your actions prove UA students have become reckless and rude. That our hiring All Might is a desperation move to maintain control over our school."
"What the fu-" I cut myself off, but Aizawa noticed. "Sensei, I'm sorry. I was just pissed off. I didn't think-"
"That might as well be where you end your sentence," Aizawa snapped. "I understand where you were coming from. Hell, I've wanted to tell those guys to piss off as well. But you can't let them get to you. We'll go over it in class at some point, but some advice? When you meet the media, and you don't want to give them something specific? Become as flat and boring as a mirror. Factual answers delivered directly with no emphasis. The media hates boring. They don't care about true or false. Just exciting."
I think I'd heard of a tennis player who did something like that in my old world. Damnit. In my defense, I've only been on the news twice before. Once, in my last life, on some crappy local station for a feature on the computer club I was a part of. Then again, when Pony and I rescued those people. I wasn't exactly trained in this stuff.
"Sorry," I said at last.
Aizawa scoffed, waving me off. "Yeah, yeah. Don't do it again. We can create enough controversies without you helping."
I walked away. But as I did, I could barely hear Aizawa talk under his breath.
"Even If I have wanted to tell them where to shove it for years…"
------
"Good work on yesterday's combat training," Aizawa-sensei said to us once we were all sat down. "I saw the video and results," he turned slightly. "Bakugo. You're talented, so don't act like a brat."
The Blonde glared to his left, unable to meet Aizawa's eyes. "I know."
"And Midoriya," Deku jumped. "You settled it by breaking your arm again, huh?" The green-haired kid stared at his desk in shame. "You can't keep saying you can't help it because you can't control your Quirk. If you haven't already, join that club the rest of brats started. Put in more time into mastering your power. Once you master it, you'll become something special. But work towards that with your classmates. Understood?"
"Y-Yes sensei!" Deku said, now more excited than depressed.
Aizawa turned to me. "Bowser. You need to get more control of yourself. You can't go rushing in for a fight anytime you want. Yesterday it made sense, but I saw a similar pattern of behaviour from you during the entrance exam. You may be suited for combat, but learn to fight with a purpose, rather than simply stalling someone till time runs out if you can't beat them."
"Got it," I said simply.
"And Todoroki. Learn to work with your classmates in team building exercises. I don't have to tell you that even a powerful quirk can't always beat enemies in one-shot. It's okay to be confident, but there is a difference between that and foolhardy arrogance. Simply striding into the building like that, assured all your enemies were defeated, was foolhardy. Understood?"
"...Yes, sensei," Shoto ground out after a moment.
"Now, let's get down to homeroom business. Sorry for the late notice, but today I'll have you…" Tension rose in the room. I leaned back in my chair, already knowing what was coming. "...decide on a class representative."
Yeah, there was the surprise at the sudden normal thing that I'd expected from the rest of the class.
"I want to be class rep! Pick me!" Kirishima shouted.
Immediately, a storm of shouts erupted. Everyone yelled out their candidacy, with Bakugo's loud roars mixing together with Mineta's weird ass declarations that he'd change the school dress code to allow everyone to dress as sexy as they want.
Funny enough, I didn't mind the idea of the latter. School uniforms are super constrictive…
"Everyone, please!" Iida said with just enough bass to his voice that everyone stopped. He rose up and looked around seriously. "This job is a serious one. Not something that we can simply take on because we feel like it, but a responsibility. Whoever has it will be leading the rest of the class in all things. Including working with the leaders of the UA Super Sentai in all that they do. I believe we should nominate our leader based on an election, with democracy to decide the job."
Wait. Iida didn't have his hand up like in the anime. "Iida, you don't want the job yourself?" I asked, genuinely surprised.
Iida shook his head. "No. I'm afraid that my responsibilities would not allow me to take on more than one leadership position. I would like to put my focus on attaining that position. So, I formally remove my name from the running in this election."
Well… shit. That surprised me. On some level I kinda thought he'd just grab both positions. Well now I had no idea what was going to happen next.
"Isn't that kind of weird though?" Kaminari noted. "Having an election so soon?"
"We do barely know each other," Sato agreed, looking around.
"Yeah, we don't have any trust in anyone's particular leadership skills," Tsuyu agreed.
"Plus can't we just vote for ourselves?" Kirishima said to Koda, who nodded. The two had been hanging out a bit today. Guess they'd hit it off after the Battle Trial.
"It's fine," I noted, crossing my arms. "I mean, if anyone gets any multiple votes then they probably deserve it. That or they bribed the officials. By the way, I'll buy pizza for the class if they vote for me."
"Bowser!" Iida said, scandalized. "You can't make campaign promises of that sort, it's unethical!"
"Follow me, children, and there will be a pizza for every star in the sky."
"That is impossible!"
Iida really was the world's best straight man. I looked over at the teacher. "Aizawa-sensei, you cool with a vote?"
He was already zipping up his yellow bag. "Whatever. Just get it done before homeroom."
Truly, an inspiration to all educators. Fine, I'd take over.
"All right, then we just need slips of paper and a box," I rose to my feet, cracking my neck. "I'll collect them for everyone. Or we can have someone else do it, if you all prefer?"
"No, we trust you," Tsuyu said. Bless your soul, future Froppy-chan.
Everyone wrote down names on slips of paper. I wrote Momo for my vote. I figured Deku would win like in canon, but maybe with my vote, Momo could become the class rep. Deku might be a good shonen protagonist, but he wasn't exactly leadership material at this stage in his short career.
Once collected, I walked up the front and started counting them out. I wrote them down on the board as I went, taking my time. And… No, wait, that couldn't be right.
Momo had four votes. Deku had two… And I had five.
"What the hell!?" I spun around, staring at the class. "Who voted for me!?"
"Screw that, who voted for Deku instead of me!?" Bakugo shouted.
"Nobody cares about your weird crush on Deku, I'm asking questions here!"
"You motherfuc-!" Bakugo roared, while Deku's face paled in horror.
"Seriously?" I stared at the votes, then at the board. Yeah, no. Five votes. I hadn't voted for myself either. So a few of us had zero votes in the class, which meant those people voted for Deku, Momo, and I rather than ourselves…
"What, are you really mad?" Kaminari asked, confused. "You have enough money for the pizza, right?"
And just like that, the curtains fell. Damn, now I know what every politician feels like when the campaign promises need to be fulfilled.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get the pizza," I sighed, looking over at Momo. "But seriously, I voted for you."
"Aw, thank you," she said with a smile. "I voted for you as well."
That was nice to know. Well… I guess I could have refused the job. But honestly, this would be the best thing. In a leadership position I could do more. More to protect my classmates. I felt uncomfortable with it, but… we could make this work.
Momo and I bowed towards each other. "Let's support each other as best as we can."
"Yes, Bowser-san."
"You all take too long with every decision," Aizawa grumbled. He rose to look over at us. "Then the Class Representative will be Koopa, and the deputy class rep will be Yaoyorozu."
"And yeah, I'll bring in pizza tomorrow," I said before Kaminari could speak up. He gave me a grin and a thumbs up.
------
At lunch, I joined Pony. Rin came along because Pony invited him. On a whim, I asked Mineta to come along. So of course, the first thing he said when he saw Pony was…
"Hey, I'm Mineta! You single and ready to mingle, beautiful?"
I growled under my breath while Pony stared at him in surprise.
"I mean, uh, nice to meet you," he said more politely, sweating bullets and very carefully not looking at me.
"Nice to meet you too!" Pony said politely, while Rin stared at Mineta like he was trying to figure out if he'd really heard that.
We sat down as a group and began to chat.
"So yeah, Monoma was depressed for the rest of class when no one voted for him," Rin explained with a chuckle. "And Kendo-san is now our class rep as well."
"She isn't worried about adding that to her other responsibilities?" I asked curiously.
"No, she said she could handle it!" Pony said, chowing down happily.
"How are you gonna deal with it?" Mineta asked me. "Don't class reps have a whole lot of responsibilities they have to deal with?"
"I can handle it I think," I said thoughtfully. "I've been working on my multitasking. I'll just need to keep up my studies while I'm at it. Shouldn't be the worst thing in the universe."
Pony frowned thoughtfully. "Bowser, do you even know what a class rep does?"
I took a big mouthful of curry. "I mean… yes. I can't believe you would doubt me. I learned from all the anime of the past after all."
"I'm starting to get worried about you becoming class rep now," Mineta mumbled.
"Yeah, I'm glad Kendo at least knows what she's doing," Rin agreed.
I ignored their byplay. I was waiting for something very specific. I sat away from them, but out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Iida talking to Deku and Ochaco. I tried my best to act relaxed, but couldn't help feeling tense. Any second now…
"Bowser?" I looked over at Pony. She seemed worried for me. "Are you… okay?"
I hesitated. She'd noticed. Of course she had. No one knew me better.
"...Well-"
An alarm rang out. As the ringing sound echoed outwards in an annoying clatter, Mineta looked up, panic in his eyes. "What the hell is that?"
"Did something happen?" Rin asked, scales flickering along the Chinese students arms.
The intercoms in the cafeteria sounded out. "There has been a level 3 security breach. All students, please evacuate outdoors promptly!"
There it was. I snapped to my feet, looking around quickly. Okay. I could see the reporters outside the windows, all rushing through the gate to head towards the doors of the school. I felt more disgust towards them. Invading a school to ask questions. Assholes.
"What do we do!?" Rin asked a third year student nearby.
"What else, we run!" Mineta said.
"No, we don't," I said seriously.
"Wha-Are you nuts!? The intercom said we have to go!"
"Mineta, hop onto my head man and look there," I said, pointing in one direction.
"Hop onto… ugh, fine!" he jumped upwards, scrambling up my spines, while I extended a hand to Pony, who sat in my palm. I lifted her up as Mineta finally sat atop my head, grabbing my horns.
"The reporters?" Mineta said, confused.
"It looks like they got onto school grounds somehow," Pony said curiously. "You think they are the reason the alarm went off?"
"Gotta be," I said, now shouting over the panicking crowd of students. In the distance, I could see Kirishima and Kaminari yelling. Momo was trying to calm people down, but no one was listening to her. This was always gonna be weird, acting like I didn't know exactly what was going on. Felt like lying. "Even as loud as it is, I don't hear anything other than us! Level 3 would be a huge attack, not a bunch of nosy assholes!"
"We should tell everyone!" Pony declared, tugging at my hand as I held her aloft. "Bowser! You're louder than all of us! Roar! Get their attention!"
I couldn't help the rush of pride I felt for her. She'd suggested exactly what I'd hoped she would.
I opened my mouth so wide I could feel my jaw click just a bit. Then I let loose a roar, unleashing a blast of flame along with it.
"Groawwwwr!" FWOOSH!
The combination of sound and fire drew the attention of the others. All the students looked over. I could also see Iida in the distance, floating over the crowd. I guess I'd interrupted his plan. But I could combine his with ours. "Iida! Let them know!"
"U-Uh, right!" the floating speedster said. He spoke aloud, giving an abbreviated version of his speech from the anime. "Everyone! Everything is fine!"
As he explained things, I placed Pony down, plucking Mineta off my head. The grape kid spoke as I put him down. "So it's over now, right?" he looked at the now calm students, some older ones laughing at their earlier panic. "What happens now?"
"We let the adults handle the reporters," I said, sighing. In truth, my original plan had been to rush off and find that Decay asshole once he infiltrated the school. But I couldn't be sure where he was now. I'd have to stay. After all the changes I'd affected in the timeline in a short time, I couldn't be sure that Iida would act the same way.
And yet, he had. I had wasted my time here.
Tomorrow… Tomorrow the USJ battle would begin. My timeline had shrunk to a pinpoint. I had one day to get my plan in action.
Fine. We'd get dangerous then.