"Attention!" he commanded, his voice louder than normal, but not quite a shout.
"From today onward, you are no longer human—you are Maggots! Do you copy?!"
Meanwhile, Aizawa-sensei could already imagine the kind of nightmare he would be forced to endure over the coming year.
The classroom fell into instant silence. Everyone was too stunned to react to the situation—everyone except even his own vice class rep.
Bonk.
"Ouch."
Nora's stiff, commander-like expression crumbled, transforming into the smug grin of someone who had just pulled off the greatest prank of his life. He turned and found his teacher lightly tapping his head with a student roster.
"What are you doing?" Aizawa sighed tiredly.
"I'm just trying to copy a certain someone." Nora tried—and failed—to suppress his grin. It was obvious he was having the time of his life. Even so, he offered a quick apology to the rest of the class for the joke.
"A certain someone?" Aizawa-sensei's curiosity was piqued.
"Yeah. A certain loli major—someone who entered the military as a child, dreaming of a happy, wealthy life far away from war. Someone who detests God more than anyone else, yet prays more than once a day, more zealously than a saint."
"..." Aizawa-sensei immediately regretted asking. If anything, his headache felt worse.
"Nora, what was that earlier?" Kaminari asked, laughing.
After swallowing the food in his mouth, Nora clutched his chest as if genuinely wounded by the question.
"What do you mean? I already told you—it was a certain loli—"
"Ahh, enough of that nonsense!" Ashido cut in, stopping Nora before he could go on another rant.
At the moment, Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima, Hagakure, and Asui were gathered together, having lunch inside the classroom.
After being chosen as class representative, they returned to the normal rhythm of high school life.
Even as Pro Hero candidates, they couldn't completely escape regular academic studies.
No—
It was precisely because they were Pro Hero candidates that they had to study even harder.
There was a saying: Knowledge is power.
This was especially true for Quirks like Kaminari's, Ashido's, and even Todoroki's. Their abilities were strong, but that didn't mean they couldn't be further amplified through proper knowledge and training.
They had hero-focused subjects like Quirk Apprehension and Hero vs. Villain, but those only occupied about a third of their total study time.
The rest was dedicated to physiology, psychology, and moral studies.
In this warped world, physiology and morality were considered the most important subjects—especially for teenagers who could easily bring down a tank or two if they really tried.
General education, hero studies, and psychology:
That was the foundation of the Hero curriculum.
Boom.
A dull explosion echoed through the room, sending a jolt of shock through everyone. In the next instant, a heavy metal shutter slammed down over the windows.
"W-What was that?!" Mineta leapt from his seat in alarm.
Tokoyami snapped awake from his nap, blinking in confusion.
The others weren't much different.
"Maybe a gas pipe just blew up," Nora said calmly, already taking another bite of his food.
"..."
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
How long had Nora lived in this world?
Years.
With villains running rampant through city streets, you eventually grew tired of reacting to every single incident. Your nerves dulled from constant exposure.
Just going to the supermarket could end with you becoming a hostage.
Stopping by a convenience store for a simple snack could nearly turn into a robbery.
Even walking home from school, you could get hurt by stray splash damage from a clash between a hero and a villain.
And now here they were, inside a school built specifically to train heroes. Surrounded by Pro Hero teachers and upperclassmen in the hero course—most of whom had powerful Quirks.
Is there really any reason to panic? Nora seriously considered.
I'd be far more worried if a villain attacked near my house or my parents' workplace. But here…?
"Does anyone know what's actually going on?" Nora asked. It would be stupid to sit around doing nothing while being completely in the dark.
As expected, it didn't take long for the truth to spread.
It turned out to be just a group of desperate, hungry hyenas that had tried to force their way into the school.
Most of the hero candidates could only lower their heads in shame.
…
Because of the commotion, the students were given some free time, though they weren't allowed to go home yet.
That was how Nora ended up on the school rooftop, dozing off while basking in the warmth of the sun.
"I guess I really am a cat now," Nora muttered to himself.
In the past, he almost never took naps. You could count the number of times he napped in a whole year on both hands. Yet now, after becoming a mutant with feline traits, he found himself enjoying the act of lying down under the sun more and more.
Still human at heart, he disliked direct sunlight. So he always chose a spot in the shade—not too far from the warmth and brightness.
"Yaaawn…"
Normally, in a game or visual novel, this would have been the perfect setup for an encounter.
However…
Nora ended up enjoying a long, peaceful nap that day.
***
In Class 1-A of U.A., there existed a truly bizarre student.
Aizawa had taught at this school for years. As the homeroom teacher of the hero course, he had encountered countless students and understood them well.
Teenagers who aspired to become heroes were often just as peculiar as their Quirks.
Some grew arrogant because of their powerful abilities, believing they could freely use their Quirks once they became heroes.
Others genuinely admired heroes and pursued the path with pure hearts—whether their Quirks were strong or weak.
Even so, Aizawa never believed in the concept of "weak" or "powerful" Quirks. To him, everything depended on how a person chose to use what they were given.
…Anyway, back to the point.
There was yet another category of students.
The type that made you wonder if they'd been accidentally dropped as a baby and knocked their head a little too hard on the floor.
Among the three groups, the second was normal.
The first was difficult.
But the third… the third was something else entirely.
And that third group was the one that made Aizawa feel like he was steadily losing his hair.
He found himself silently lamenting over his own students.
Aoyama, Mineta, Tokoyami… No, those ones are still normal. And lastly—Nekoyama.
It had only been a few days since the school year began, but Aizawa, as a seasoned teacher, could already grasp the essence of his students.
He would be lying if he said he hadn't felt hopeful when Nekoyama was chosen as class representative. Out of all of them, the boy had seemed the most mature.
But… he had been wrong.
Completely, utterly wrong.
Among all the students, Nekoyama was the most unpredictable.
Even so, Aizawa's experience helped him put the feeling into words.
It's like he doesn't have any brakes.
That was his honest impression.
Most people have intrusive thoughts from time to time. They remain just that—thoughts. But Nekoyama isn't like that.
Aizawa pressed two fingers between his eyebrows and gently massaged the spot.
He acts the moment those thoughts appear. There's no hesitation. No restraint. He doesn't feel like someone fully living inside his own body…
Ah… yes.
It's like he's playing a game.