Minoru Mineta walked inside his classroom, Division A, his eyes calmly scanning the room as he took in the sight of students chatting with each other, some laughing, some quietly minding their own business, while a few just sat there waiting for class to start.
As his gaze moved across the room, something… strange caught his attention, making him pause for a split second as his eyes landed on what looked like a female school uniform… floating in mid-air on one of the seats, and his brain immediately short-circuited for a moment.
'What?' Mineta thought as his mind froze, staring at the floating clothes, his thoughts going blank before rebooting almost instantly, and without reacting outwardly, he quickly looked away and walked toward a seat that seemed almost destined for protagonists—the window seat at the back.
Coincidentally, the seat right next to it was the one with the floating clothes, and Mineta sat down casually, keeping his expression completely neutral even as his mind screamed in shock, 'Why is Toru Hagakure here?!'
His thoughts raced, but his face remained calm as he leaned back slightly, trying to process the situation before coming to a quick conclusion, 'Butterfly effect… yeah, that has to be it.'
He glanced around the classroom again and noticed some students subtly pointing toward the floating uniform, whispering among themselves, some even snickering.
'Bullying,' Mineta thought, his eyes shifting toward Toru again as he noticed a pencil floating in the air, casually doodling on a notebook as if nothing was happening, clearly ignoring the comments around her.
Mineta raised his hand slightly and coughed into it, trying to get her attention, and it worked as the floating clothes turned slightly toward him, indicating she had noticed him. "I am Minoru Mineta," he said with a small nod in her direction, keeping his tone simple and polite.
"Toru Hagakure," her voice came cheerfully, her presence oddly energetic despite being invisible.
"We will be deskmates, so I'm looking forward to studying with you," Mineta added, and one of her sleeves lifted and moved in the air, likely her way of shaking hands. "Yep! Looking forward to it as well!" Toru replied in a cheerful, slightly cheeky tone.
Soon, the classroom quieted down as a teacher entered, and he introduced himself as Yuji Hanma, their class teacher who would be teaching them mathematics.
Mineta observed him carefully—he was around 180 cm tall, slightly chubby, but what stood out the most was his hair, which looked like wool made up of multiple colors, almost like a rainbow, most likely related to his quirk.
As Yuji began explaining about their subjects, curriculum, and what they would be learning during middle school, Toru leaned slightly toward Mineta and whispered, "I wonder if he can change his hair to one single color or if he just keeps it rainbow," her tone filled with curiosity.
"Most likely he can," Mineta whispered back quietly, "but I think he keeps it rainbow to stand out," and Toru gave a small amused sound in response as the teacher continued speaking, unaware of their small conversation.
After finishing his introduction, Yuji instructed everyone to head down to the ground floor hall for orientation, and as students began standing up and moving out of the classroom, Mineta and Toru followed along, naturally falling into step beside each other as they walked at the back of the group, continuing their conversation.
Toru turned toward him and asked what quirk he had, and Mineta casually reached up, pulling one of the purple balls from his head before bouncing it lightly in his hand.
"My quirk is Pop Off," he said, "these balls that grow from my head are sticky. I can use them to trap people… or bounce off them myself."
Toru nodded in interest, "That's actually a really cool quirk for rescue work in heroics," she said, sounding genuinely impressed, and Mineta nodded back, "It's my dream to enter heroics," he replied.
Toru brightened slightly and said that she also wanted to enter heroics, specifically U.A. High School, but she sounded a bit unsure as she continued, saying that the entrance exams were mostly physical, and her quirk—Invisibility—might not be very helpful in that kind of test.
Mineta placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully as he looked toward her and asked, "Is your quirk really just invisibility?" Toru paused and made a small "Huh?" sound as Mineta continued explaining.
"If your body is completely invisible, that means light passes through or bends around you," he said calmly, "but then… how can you see? That means light still interacts with your eyes. So your quirk is probably not pure invisibility… it's more like light bending."
Toru suddenly stopped walking, causing Mineta to pause as well, and for a second, he panicked slightly. 'Did I say something wrong?' "Sorry, I didn't mean to—" he started, but Toru quickly interrupted him.
"I've… never thought about my quirk like that before!" she said, her voice full of excitement and amazement, and hearing that, Mineta let out a small breath of relief.
'Good… she's not upset,' he thought as they resumed walking together, Toru now sounding much more energetic as she said he was really smart to think about her quirk like that, and Mineta simply shrugged lightly.
"I've always been observant since childhood," he replied.
As they continued chatting, they passed by a line of second-year students moving in the opposite direction, and for a brief moment, Mineta's eyes caught a glimpse of a blonde-haired girl among them, her presence standing out just enough to make him notice before both groups passed each other and went their separate ways, the first years heading toward the front seating area of the hall while the second and third years moved to sit behind them.
Mineta and Toru took their seats for the orientation, continuing their conversation casually, but while his face remained calm and engaged, his mind was anything but.
'Why the fuck is Himiko Toga here too?!' his thoughts screamed internally.