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[First Impression]
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| A month later… |
…
Monday morning, 7:40 a.m. Taka stood in front of his bathroom mirror, brushing his hair with a still faintly sleepy look.
"... Now's the moment. Tonight's the night—well, in this case it should be something more like, now's the moment, this morning's the morning…"
Muttering nonsense, he smiled faintly at his reflection as the dandruff and dried saliva from having slept a bit too well vanished without him doing anything.
"This shit's so convenient."
Now looking more presentable, he stared intently at the mirror, shifting his face from side to side, checking for anything that might need fixing.
Of course, there was nothing. That was impossible—he was simply too perfect.
Letting out a smug laugh, he brushed his hair up and looked at himself with pure arrogance.
"Prepare yourself, U.A. You're about to be aura farmed."
With those words, Taka left the bathroom and went to grab the rest of his things, preparing for his first day of school.
The day had finally come. Today, U.A. began its classes, and with them, canon would start unfolding.
Fortunately, he had been sorted into Class 1-A, which meant he'd have a front-row seat to all the crazy events that were about to happen—and, by extension, the perfect scenarios to become the ultimate aura farmer.
If he had ended up in Class 1-B, though, he honestly wouldn't have known what to do. Those guys were never present for the good stuff.
'Though… being a mysterious character from the other class who only appears at the clutchest moment would've been pretty epic too,' Taka mused, before quickly discarding the thought. He was already in 1-A—no point in planning for something that didn't happen.
Yeah. Imagine going to 1-B. That must suck. Who would do that?
Finished gathering his things, he went downstairs and tossed his backpack onto the couch before heading to the kitchen to make something to eat before leaving.
Something to eat, as in All Might's Puffs with milk.
After a quick preparation, he sat at the table, pouring his breakfast into a bowl while checking his phone.
His eyes drifted to the time.
7:50 a.m.
Classes started at 8:25 a.m., meaning he had barely thirty-five minutes left.
And he was still in Shizuoka—a trip that normally took about two hours.
"Heh." Taka smiled.
As powerful as he was now, though, it would take him no more than twenty minutes.
Basking in his own awesomeness, he began eating his breakfast with a relaxed smile.
But as he took his first bite, a familiar sensation hit him.
A déjà vu.
Chewing slowly, Taka stared ahead pensively.
"It's been a while, huh?" he muttered, recalling the day everything had begun.
Twelve months ago, he'd received his reincarnator starter pack—complete with memories of a past life and a system.
Since then, he'd been dragged into all kinds of ridiculous situations in the pursuit of becoming a true aura farmer. His power had grown by leaps and bounds, and his brain had been thoroughly washed in the process.
Now here he was—well, sitting—right where his life had done a full 180°, eating the same breakfast as back then.
Though, to be fair, he always ate this in the morning, so maybe it wasn't that crazy of a coincidence.
Either way, he had grown a lot since that moment.
"And it's only going to get better from now on." He smirked.
Glancing at his bowl, he opened his mouth wide and dumped the rest of his breakfast all at once.
His Efficient Body skill had really turned him into a glutton when he felt like it.
Licking his lips clean, he picked up his things and got ready to leave the house.
But before he could—
"Yo, Taka, already leaving?" Seiji stepped out of his room, looking half-dead from sleep.
"Yup." Taka nodded.
"Well, good luck on your first day," Seiji said.
Taka was about to nod—but Seiji wasn't quite done.
"Though try to tone the edge down a bit—you wouldn't want to scare possible new friends and ladies, would you?"
"Just go back to sleep." Taka rolled his eyes, though a faint smirk tugged at his lips.
After that, Seiji waved at him half-heartedly and closed the door behind him.
With that, Taka opened the door and stepped outside, taking in the morning air as he closed the door behind him.
Then—
—BOOM!—
With a sudden burst of air, Taka shot straight into the sky.
…
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| Minutes later, U.A.'s Classroom 1-A |
…
Amidst a classroom full of strangers, each sitting at their desks and waiting patiently in silence for their teacher to arrive, two individuals stood out for the opposite reason. They were loudly arguing without restraint.
"Get your feet off the desk! Don't you know it's disrespectful to our seniors and to the people who built it?!" Tenya Iida berated, standing beside Katsuki Bakugo's desk.
"Of course not…" Bakugo spat, then glared at Iida with narrowed eyes. "And who the hell are you supposed to be…?"
Iida blinked, as if realizing he had violated the unspoken rules of human interaction by not introducing himself first.
Quickly, he gestured towards himself, extending a hand. "My name is Tenya Iida. I attended the private academy Somei."
Bakugo ignored the proposed handshake and clicked his tongue, hostility flashing in his eyes. "Tch. So you're an elite? I'll thoroughly enjoy crushing you."
Iida recoiled slightly at the declaration. "Crush me?! Y-you—are you seriously aiming to become a hero?"
Bakugo snorted and looked away, already bored with the conversation.
'Tsk, again some nobody.' He thought disdainfully, before his narrowed gaze scanned the whole classroom, falling on everyone's skulls.
Someone had dared to steal first place from him. Whoever it was, they were probably feeling like they were the king of the world right now.
'I'll make sure to remind them what their place is before they get too ahead of themselves.' He thought, mouth stretching slightly into a small grin.
He may have lost, but he for sure didn't think he was less than anyone for even a second. He had seen the scores; whoever it was, they either cheated or had a skill that went really well against robots.
Otherwise, there was no way someone could have attained that kind of score.
Or at least, that's what he thought.
"Hmm?"
But as his gaze drifted back toward the front of the classroom, he noticed someone standing at the entrance. Someone he recognized clearly and who made him scoff in disdain.
Midoriya Izuku.
And as Bakugo noticed him, so did Iida, who immediately left Bakugo's side to greet the newcomer.
As Midoriya stepped inside, his way was blocked by the glassed student, who offered yet another handshake.
"Good morning! I'm Tenya Iida from the private academy Som—!"
"I-I heard it!" Midoriya cut him off, accepting the handshake with a nervous smile. "I-I'm Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Iida-kun."
Iida nodded, but his expression suddenly turned serious, making Midoriya even more nervous. "Midoriya… you knew about that extra rule in the practical exam, didn't you?"
"Eh?"
Ignoring Midoriya's confusion, Iida clenched his fist, frustration clear on his face. "I never realized… yet, you did. I truly misjudged you! I hate to admit it… But you're better than me!"
Midoriya deadpanned as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. "S-sorry, I actually didn't know either."
Sadly, his nervousness turned his normal voice into a mere mumble, making it so Iida never caught that.
"Ah! That curly hair—you're that common-looking guy! You passed the exam just like Present Mic said!"
Before Midoriya could try to speak louder, though, a new voice interrupted them.
Turning his head, Midoriya saw Uraraka—recognizing her instantly as the girl who had helped him during the practical exam to avoid his death by fall damage, and whom he had helped prior to that by smashing a certain giant robot's face flat.
'It's the kind person!—and she looks really nice in that uniform…'
While Midoriya got lost in his own weird thoughts, Uraraka heaved a relieved sigh before snickering as she punched the air enthusiastically. "Well, I mean, of course you passed. With a punch that strong, it'd be weird if they rejected you!"
At the compliment, his face instantly turned red like the bum he was.
But just as the atmosphere was turning pleasant—
"A-ah, u-uhm, well, it was thanks to you going to talk to the teachers that—"
"You're in the way."
—A blunt but powerful voice cut through it. Making their conversation, and any other that may have been going on inside the classroom, die in an instant,
Instantly, all eyes turned toward the source, including those of the students who had been quietly seated.
A black haired boy stood there, his dark, sharp eyes landing on Uraka and Midoriya, who stood at the entrance.
Without realizing it, both took a step back, giving way to the newcomer.
And so, with the path open, he stepped into the classroom.
—Step.
""...!""
The moment he did, an oppressive sensation washed over the entire room.
Not heavy, not frightening.
But the kind of feeling you get when standing in the presence of someone... superior.
Nervousness.
Averting gazes.
Not knowing how to exist.
That kind of feeling assaulted almost everyone.
And as that pressure settled on them, Bakugo—who had been lazily leaning back in his chair with both feet on the desk—snapped upright, his eyes blazing with sudden realization.
He had been wondering who the bastard was who'd stolen first place from him.
But now, the question felt almost stupid.
The one standing before him… was clearly the culprit.
It had to be.
That presence—there was no way it belonged to anyone else but to the bastard who had dared take first place from him!
"You—!"
In an instant, Bakugo prepared for conflict. Ready to put him in his place.
But just as the words reached his throat, the boy's eyes met his.
"...!"
And in that very instant, it felt like a brief clash had occurred. Like the meeting of two predators, who gauged each other from their gazes alone.
—One that Bakugo lost a millisecond later.
His gaze averted itself before he even realized it, and when he did, his eyes snapped wide in shock.
'I—I dodged his gaze?!'
While Bakugo spiraled over his own unconscious reaction, the boy snorted before his eyes returned to the front and he continued walking into the classroom, eventually stopping right in front of Iida.
"I-it's you…" Iida said, his mind flashing back to their brief confrontation in the auditorium. For a moment, he hesitated, unsure whether to greet him like the others.
To his surprise, however, the handshake came first from the boy himself.
He didn't give an introduction or say anything at all. He simply offered his hand.
Iida hesitated for a moment, questioning if this was some kind of trick. After all, they had started off on the wrong foot.
But in the end, his manners won out over his unease.
"I-I'm Tenya Iida." The bespectacled guy gave a curt nod.
The boy nodded once too, then finally spoke.
"Takahashi Fukumoto… Though you can just call me Taka."
The instant those words left his mouth, the oppressive aura blanketing the room vanished.
Several students let out unconscious sighs of relief as the tension dissipated. For a brief moment, the imposing presence surrounding the boy seemed to thin, almost fading away entirely.
But just as the atmosphere began to lighten—
"Go make friends somewhere else."
Another voice cut in.
Everyone's attention snapped back to the classroom entrance—more specifically, to the floor just behind the door.
There lay something resembling a caterpillar. One that, for some reason, had a human face.
Nevermind. It was just a guy inside a sleeping bag.
Slurping from a pouch of mashed fruit, the man wriggled free from the bag and stood up, staring at the class with an utterly exhausted expression.
Messy, shoulder-length black hair. Dry, perpetually tired eyes. A thin, unshaven beard. A plain dark-green jumpsuit, paired with a thick scarf wrapped loosely around his neck.
He was the very embodiment of hoboness.
Eraser Head—Shota Aizawa.
"Alright, it took you all fifteen seconds to shut up," he muttered, folding the sleeping bag under his arm before sweeping the room with a sharp glare. "Time's limited. You kids aren't rational enough."
The students stared at him in disbelief, unsure of who—or what—they were looking at.
Thankfully, he didn't leave them guessing for long.
"I'm your homeroom teacher. Shota Aizawa," he said flatly. "Nice to meet you."
The classroom erupted into gasps.
Under normal circumstances, such an introduction wouldn't have caused such a reaction. But such was his hoboness to provoke those reactions.
Before anyone could voice their questions, though, Aizawa reached into his backpack and pulled out the standard U.A. gym uniform, holding it up for everyone to see.
"This is sudden, but put these on," he said. "We're heading outside to the field."
Confusion rippled through the class. Aizawa, however, clearly had no interest in suspense.
"We're doing a Quirk Assessment Test," he added, a faint grin tugging at his lips.
And he wasn't the only one smiling.
"Heh."
Taka let out a quiet snort, the corner of his mouth curving upward.
'Oh yeah,' he thought. 'It's aura farming time.'
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: The first impression has been made, and what an impression indeed. How is it looking so far for you guys? I have to ask since the line between cringe and epic is often thin. Gotta make sure I'm keeping a safe distance.)