February 25th
There was less than a week to go until U.A.'s official entrance ceremony.
The general junior high graduation exams had wrapped up two days ago, and official enrollment was in three days.
Arthur figured Izuku Midoriya had most likely become the new successor of One For All.
He'd originally wanted to see if Midoriya could pull off his usual moves, but All Might had shut it down, no outsiders allowed to observe the U.A. exam, recommended students included.
So much for that.
"Arthur, your uniform's here."
Momo Yaoyorozu was pretty comfortable with things by now. She opened the door to Arthur's room and held up the freshly delivered gray school uniform, still in its clear plastic bag.
"This past month has been driving me insane."
Arthur took the uniform from her.
With only a month left before he needed to keep a low profile, no need to give Tsukauchi and the police any more reasons to come after him, Arthur had been living pretty chill.
Especially after whatever this thing with Momo Yaoyorozu was started.
But for someone who lived for chasing thrills and pushing his own limits, chilling for a bit was fine. Long-term? Absolutely not.
"Three more days. Hell yeah."
Arthur tossed the uniform onto the couch next to him.
"You're looking forward to U.A.? Honestly, me too. Everyone there is an elite who made it through the nationwide exams."
Momo clasped her hands together, her face lighting up with excitement.
Arthur smirked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back as he leaned into the couch.
Before Momo could react, he'd already kissed her, and then came that familiar feeling-
"Mm"
---
In some underground bar.
The bartender looked like a mass of purple-black fog, with only a pair of narrow golden eyes visible.
Across the bar sat a guy who looked maybe seventeen, his face covered by a hand.
The TV behind them suddenly flickered on.
Static crackled across the screen, making it impossible to tell who was there.
Then a hoarse, low voice came through. "Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Is the U.A. infiltration plan ready?"
Shigaraki Tomura twisted around in his seat to face the TV, spreading his hands. "Relax, Sensei. With the Nomu you gave me, I'll definitely kill him, that Symbol of Peace, All Might."
Shigaraki's voice was just as raspy, buzzing with barely contained excitement.
The man on the screen, Shigaraki's Sensei, also All Might's arch-nemesis, All For One said, "This is about killing All Might and training you. But aside from that, there's someone else I'm pretty interested in."
"Eh?"
Shigaraki let out a confused sound.
Kurogiri spoke up. "Are you referring to the student Giran mentioned? The one named Arthur Pendragon?"
"According to Giran's intel, he's been lying low lately since the police started watching him. Our contact's been cut off too."
All For One's voice carried a hint of anticipation. "Even though he's from U.A., the guy's out here chasing power in the most extreme ways. Heh heh..."
"I'm curious about this kid. Kurogiri, keep an eye on him once the operation starts."
As he spoke, All For One couldn't help but laugh, almost unhinged.
Shigaraki Tomura scratched at his neck, like he wanted to dig into his own skin, and shot back, "He's just a lunatic who's obsessed with power. No ideals, no nothing."
"Lunatics can be terrifying too, Shigaraki."
All For One said, "What you need to learn is how to handle different kinds of people. Once you figure that out, you'll grow."
Shigaraki still had his doubts and frustrations, but he'd always follow All For One's words without question.
"Heh heh. What if one day, All Might's star hero candidate ends up standing with the 'villains'? How do you think he'd feel? Ahahahahaha!"
All For One cracked up again as he spoke.
That was just how he was. If it could make All Might spiral into despair, he was all in.
But honestly, that was also why Arthur Pendragon couldn't stand All For One.
Call it hatred or whatever, but the guy was obsessed with just one person. That was his whole deal. Whether as a "hero" or a "villain," his scope was that limited.
Three days later, U.A. High School.
"So this is U.A.? It's not as fancy as the all-girls academy I went to before, but you can actually feel the hero-training vibe here."
Arthur and Momo Yaoyorozu, both in their new U.A. uniforms, sat side by side in the hallway.
Momo, as usual, gave off that effortless rich-girl vibe.
"We're here. Class 1-A."
Arthur stopped and nodded toward the door.
The oversized classroom door had a bold red "1-A" on it.
"Phew..."
Momo put a hand on her collar and took a deep breath.
"Nervous?"
Arthur glanced at her.
"A little. But I'm fine now."
Momo smiled.
Honestly, no matter how intense U.A. students got, they couldn't be more intense than the high-profile criminals she'd run into while hanging out with Arthur.
The moment the classroom door slid open, a dull thud echoed, like something just slammed into a wall.
Arthur and Momo both recognized the sound.
Sure enough, Inasa was standing there, arms and legs straight, shouting, "...to have the most passionate school life in Japan!!!"
"Way too extra..."
Half the class was already there, and quite a few people muttered under their breath.
"I'm Tenya Iida, from Somei Private Academy!"
A sturdy guy with glasses stepped up.
"Nice to meet you!"
Inasa's voice was as loud as always.
He dropped his head to the floor and yelled, "Hey everyone! I'm Inasa Yoarashi, and I came to U.A. because I want to-"
"Huh? Isn't this supposed to be some elite school? You sure you've got what it takes?"
The voice came from across the room.
Inasa, Iida, and the others turned to see Katsuki Bakugo with his hands in his pockets, feet crossed on top of his desk, grinning.
"Take your feet off the desk! Don't you have any respect for the upperclassmen, or for the people who built these desks?"
Iida shouted back.
"Ha? What'd you say?"
Bakugo glared, ready to fire back at the four-eyes.
Growing up, no one his age had ever talked to him like that.
Well, no one except for that one guy who just skipped the talking and went straight to throwing hands.
"Heh. In a class with barely twenty people, we already have three annoyingly loud ones."
Arthur's voice pulled everyone's attention to the doorway.
"It's you, you twin bastard!"
Bakugo immediately bristled and jumped from his chair onto his desk.
Shoto Todoroki, sitting in the back row, raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet.
Arthur walked in with a smirk. "Not saying it'll be boring, but I don't do noise."
"You wanna die? I'll kill you first!"
"If it's the sound of an enemy screaming in pain, though, that's a different story."
Bakugo spread his hands, setting off small explosions with a series of pops.
Kill?
A bunch of classmates, including Iida, felt a chill run down their spines.
Was this guy seriously trying to be a hero?
He seemed more like villain material.
And that tall guy,.his words sounded more polished, but the energy coming off him was no joke.
Arthur stayed on the floor while Bakugo stood on the desk, staring each other down.
No one even noticed Izuku Midoriya and a round-faced girl with chubby cheeks walk up to the doorway.
"Die... Huh!?"
Bakugo was about to launch himself off the desk when his expression shifted and he froze mid-motion.
He couldn't feel his Quirk anymore.
Right then, a lazy voice drifted from behind Midoriya. "At U.A., using your Quirk to attack someone gets you at least a warning or probation."
Everyone, Midoriya, the girl at the door, the whole class turned to look.
Shota Aizawa, looking like he hadn't slept in days, made his entrance.
"Took you thirteen seconds to quiet down..."
Aizawa stepped out of his sleeping bag and shuffled to the podium. "Are you all... actually here with the resolve to become heroes?"
Arthur glanced around the room.
Class 1-A had twenty students. Since he and Inasa had taken two spots, that meant two people from the original lineup must have been cut or moved to other classes.
Looking closer, Arthur noticed it was the guy who controlled birds and animals and the one who used sugar as a power-up. Both had lost their spots.
Funny thing was, Arthur couldn't even remember their names.
Not that he remembered most people's names in the class anyway.
He'd been in this world for over ten years, after all.
So they dropped the two least noticeable guys?
"Heh..."
Arthur, sitting with his legs crossed, let out a quiet laugh.
"Something funny?"
Aizawa frowned.
Arthur's smile faded as he looked up. "Nah. Just thinking about what you said earlier."
"What about it?"
Aizawa's frown deepened.
Arthur chuckled. "I wasn't planning to use my Quirk on Durian Head just now."
"What did you say?! You twin bastard!"
"Physical strength alone is enough to deal with him."
Bakugo looked ready to explode, but since their homeroom teacher was right there, he held back.
Aizawa was quiet for a few seconds before saying in a measured tone, "Then you'll be on probation too. Don't start fights."
...
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GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.