The final bell of the day didn't just signal the end of classes; it sounded like a victory fanfare. For a few seconds, the silence in Class 1-A was heavy. Then, the dam broke, with high-pitched chatter of relieved teenagers.
"Man, my brain is officially fried!" Denki Kaminari groaned. "Who knew English class could be more exhausting than a Quirk test? Present Mic's voice is like a physical attack on my soul. My ears are still ringing like a bell."
Hiroki laughed. "That's because you were trying to jump-start your brain, weren't you?, i saw the sparks in your hair"
"It's a valid strategy!" Kaminari defended himself, waving a hand dismissively. "my brain couldn't handle all that in just the first day it needs more time."
Mina Ashido bounced over to the middle row, her eyes sparkling. "Forget English! Did you guys see the schedule for tomorrow? 'Hero Basic Training.' And the teacher's name is totally blanked out on the portal! It's all top-secret."
"It's All Might," Kirishima said, slamming a hardened fist into his palm with a wide, jagged grin. "It has to be. Who else could they be hiding with that much mystery? It's the manly way to make an entrance. Just like the movies!"
"I heard he's actually going to be living on campus," Toru Hagakure's floating uniform bobbed excitedly in front of my desk.
"Takeru, Your parents are Pros, right? You must have some inside info! Is it really him?"
I grinned, leaning back in my chair with a relaxed confidence. "My parents are pros, yeah, but U.A. keeps their faculty contracts closer to the chest than a poker pro. But honestly? If it isn't All Might, someone owes us a serious apology for all the hype."
"A gathering of legends," Tokoyami muttered from my left. "Tomorrow, the dawn breaks on our true destiny. The shadows of the classroom will give way to the light of the battlefield."
"Or we just get expelled by lunch," Jiro added. "Aizawa wasn't joking about that 'zero potential' thing, even if he didn't pull the trigger today. He's got that look in his eye... like he's just waiting for one of us to mess up."
Iida stood up suddenly, his hand chopping the air in a rigid vertical motion. "While the identity of the instructor is of great interest, we must not neglect our interpersonal development! As a community of scholars, I propose a social excursion to commemorate our successful first day!"
"Translation: Let's go to the arcade!" Hiroki shouted
Arcade?" Momo Yaoyorozu blinked, looking intrigued but genuinely confused. "Is that the facility with the mechanical claw games and the electronic combat simulations? I've read about those in several sociology journals regarding urban youth recreation, but I've never actually stepped foot inside one."
"Sociology journals?" Mina laughed, grabbing Momo's arm and pulling her toward the door. "Momo-chan, you are definitely coming with us. We're going to teach you the fine art of the Crane Game. It's a core hero skill, I swear!"
"I suppose it would be a valuable cultural experience to observe these 'arcades' in person," Momo said, smiling softly as she let herself be led away.
"He's right," I said, leaning back in my chair. I looked over at Izuku Midoriya, who was still frantically scribbling in his hero analysis notebook. "Hey, Midoriya! Put the pen down for a second. We're all heading to the arcade. You should come. You too, Ojiro, Shoji, Sato, Tsuyu, Sero! Let's get the whole crew together."
"I'm in, kero," Tsuyu Asui said, her finger to her chin. "It sounds like fun to see everyone outside of their gym clothes."
"Arcade? Count me in!" Hanta Sero grinned. "I bet I can win those high-score races with a bit of tape-drifting!"
Rikido Sato, the muscular student. "An arcade? Sounds like a great way to burn off some steam. I'm in, Kazama!"
"And me? You cannot forget the sparkle!" Yuga Aoyama struck a pose, his cape fluttering. "A hero must always be seen in the most dazzling of lights. The arcade shall be my stage!"
"Great," I laughed, standing up. "Let's gather the rest."
As we moved toward the massive front gates of U.A., the group was a sea of blue uniforms. We saw Daichi leaning against one of the pillars near the entrance.
"Hey, Daichi!" I called out, waving him over. "Don't even think about sneaking off. We're all heading to the 'Ultra' Game Center. You're coming with us."
Daichi's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face as he pushed off the pillar. "Really? You guys are inviting me? I thought the 'elite' class would be too busy studying for that."
"Elite? We're just students, Daichi," I said, clapping him on the back. "And in this class, nobody walks home alone on the first day. Rank 1's orders."
"Count me in then," Daichi said, falling into step with us.
The walk to the station was a chaotic stream of light conversation. I walked in the middle feeling perfectly at ease. Around me all of class 1-A was walking plus one daichi except shoto and bakugo.
"So, Takeru," Kaminari said, walking backward to face me. "That blue energy... do you have to, like, vent it? Or can you just hold it in forever? Is it like a pressure cooker that might go off if you get too excited?"
"Not at all," I explained, gesturing to the buzzing city around us. "I have total control over the flow. I can choose exactly what to take in and what to ignore. If I want to be a walking battery, I can. If I want to be totally 'off,' I'm just a normal guy. It's not about containing a bomb; it's about managing a magnificent reservoir. I'm the one with the tap. 8 years of training with father paid off.
"That sounds way more convenient than being a human lightning rod," Kaminari sighed. "If I use too much, I turn into a total idiot for an hour. My brain just... shorts out."
"It's about the spirit of mastery," Ojiro added, walking beside us. "Control is the ultimate form of strength. Seeing you handle that ball throw today... it was inspiring, Kazama-kun.
"Thanks, Ojiro. But honestly? I'm more excited to see how that tail of yours handles the rhythm games," I teased. "I bet you have a mean 'Dance Hero' score."
"I might have practiced once or twice," Ojiro admitted with a blush. "It's good for balance."
"Hey, Tsuyu," Mina called out. "Can you use your tongue to win at those 'Whack-a-Mole' games?"
"I could, kero," Tsuyu replied honestly. "But that might be considered cheating if I don't use the mallet. Though the mallet is quite heavy for me to swing quickly."
"Aoyama, are you going to dazzle the claw machines?" Sero asked, elbowing the blonde.
"The claw machines are mere trifles," Aoyama huffed, checking his reflection in a shop window. "But they shall surely bow to my radiance once they see me handle the joystick!"
"Wait, look!"
Toru pointed at a massive neon sign. "GAME CENTER 'ULTRA'! We're here! Look at those lights!"
The moment we stepped inside, the sensory overload was amazing. Far from being overwhelmed, I loved the energy. I reached out mentally, allowing my Aether Pulse to gently sip.
"Momo! Look!" Mina dragged the heiress toward a 'Purikura' photo booth. "Group shots! Now! Everyone get in here! No excuses!"
We all piled in. It was a hilarious, tight squeeze. Iida was trying to maintain a formal posture, Izuku was blushing furiously in the corner, and Shoji had to fold several of his arms just to fit in the frame. Sato was holding a peace sign over Daichi's head, while Hiroki was stretching his neck to look over Tokoyami. Sero was sticking a bit of tape to the ceiling to hold himself up for a better angle, and Tsuyu was perched on a small stool. Jiro was tucking her earphone jacks. Ojiro was using his tail to stand on for height.and others were adjusting in there own way.
"Takeru, move left! You're blocking Aoyama's sparkle!" Mina laughed.
"I'm trying! Shoji, give us some room! Tokoyami, watch the beak!" I shouted, laughing as the flash went off. The resulting stickers showed a chaotic, happy mess of students—some with digital cat ears, others with "PLUS ULTRA" written across their foreheads. Aoyama had somehow managed to make his eyes sparkle even more in the digital edit.
After the photos, we hit the games in earnest. Hiroki and Kaminari went straight for the rhythm games, but I wanted to get the others involved in something more active.
"Kirishima, Shoji, Daichi, toru, Sero—let's go! Six-way air hockey," I challenged, pointing at the row of tables.
"Six-way? How does that even work?" Sero asked, grinning. "Are we just going to tape the tables together?"
"Exactly!" I laughed, sliding a puck across the combined surface.
The game was intense. I used my reflexes to the fullest, my hand moving in a blur of blue light as I intercepted the pucks. Sero was using his tape to pull pucks back from the edge, while Shoji was defending three goals at once with his extra limbs.
"No fair! Your reaction time is insane!" Kirishima laughed as I slammed a puck into his goal. "You're like a computer!"
"It's the Rank 1 perks, Kirishima!" I teased, sliding the puck back toward Shoji.
Across the aisle, Ojiro was surprisingly dominant at a martial arts simulator, his tail providing a balance that allowed him to pull off combos the machine could barely track. Tokoyami was at a gothic-themed dungeon crawler, his Dark Shadow peaking out while Izuku stood nearby, taking mental notes.
"Takeru-san, look!" Izuku called out, pointing at a strength tester. "Shoji just hit the max, and Sato is right behind him!"
"Nice one, guys!" I said, walking over. "Think it can handle my quirk?"
"Give it a try," Shoji challenged with a multiple-armed grin. "Let's see that 'Top Rank' power."
I didn't use a full, destructive blast. I just focused a tiny, high-frequency Aether Pulse into my palm and tapped the sensor. The machine didn't just beep; it hummed with a low blue resonance before the score shot up to 999 and the "Winner" siren went off, the lights flickering in sync with my power.
"Incredible," Izuku whispered. "The vibration frequency was so high it bypassed the mechanical lag of the sensor!."
"It's all in the wrist, Izuku!" I laughed, ruffling his hair. "You should try it. Use that focus of yours."
"Momo, you got it! Just a little to the left!" Toru called out from the claw machines. Momo was controlling the crane with the intensity of a surgeon performing a heart transplant.
"The mechanical leverage of this device is intentionally flawed to favor the house," Momo muttered, her tongue poking out in concentration. "It's statistically improbable to secure the prize without a precise vertical lift."
With a final click, the claw gripped a small stuffed bird. It lifted, wobbled, and dropped the prize into the chute.
"I DID IT!" Momo cheered, jumping up and down with Mina, Toru, and Tsuyu. She grabbed the bird and held it up like a trophy. " Look! Everyone I've mastered the commoner's trial of physics!"
"Nice work, Momo! I knew you had it," I said, giving her a high-five. and Momo immediately went back to work with renewed determination.
The highlight was the Combat Simulator. It was a multi-player arena. Hiroki, Kaminari, Kirishima, Daichi, Sato, Sero, and I all jumped into the pods.
We went at it for half an hour. My avatar was a blue streak, clashing with Hiroki's rubbery strikes and Daichi's heavy hits. Sero was swinging around the virtual arena using his tape, while Sato was powering up his avatar with digital cakes. I wasn't holding back out of fear—I was pushing myself because it was fun to finally have people who could keep up with me. We were all shouting, laughing, and calling out moves like we were in a real battle.
"Watch out, Takeru! Sero's trying to trap you!" Daichi warned.
"I see it! Coming in hot!" I yelled, executing a virtual spin-move that sent blue sparks across the screen. At the end they ganged up on me and kirishima kept punching and while I was distracted, sero tied me up with his tape.
As the sun began to set, casting long, golden shadows across the arcade floor, we finally headed toward the station, our pockets lighter but our moods much higher than they had been all day.
"So," Iida said, checking his watch with perfect precision. "Tomorrow at 8:00 AM sharp. We must be prepared for the unknown. Hero Basic Training is where the real work begins."
"Whatever it is, we'll handle it," I said, looking around at the group. "Right, guys"
"Oh! And girls too."
"The darkness is ready," Tokoyami said solemnly.
"I'll... I'll give it my all!" Izuku added, his eyes bright with a new kind of confidence.
"I shall be the most radiant student in the class, kero," Aoyama posed, and Tsuyu nodded in agreement.
As the sun set in the horizon, Everyone left in groups towards the train station, well except yaoyorozu her limo was parked outside with her driver and guards, she offerwd a few to drive them home and a few sat in the back.
"Hey, Takeru," Hiroki whispered as we boarded our train. "You were really in the zone today."
"I'm just a guy who likes games and his friends, Hiroki," I replied, looking at the stickers of our group. "But yeah... it was a good day. NO it was....
"A FUN DAY"
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A/N
So how do you like the chapter?
i wrote all the conversations and everything the games because I can't rely on the damn AI to do just grammatical corrections.
Damn AI kept changing the whole narrative when specifically wrote to just correct the grammer and if (.) this fullstop is everywhere.
Anyway it took too long to write this, it's 2400+ words i tried to include everyone in something hope i didn't leave anyone out in the chapter.
If you like the dedication then give some comments, reviews and those powerstones.