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Ren had expected the Sludge Villain incident in the shopping district to have consequences.
He had badly underestimated them.
Especially the part where those consequences focused on him.
After spending fifteen restless minutes getting ready, Ren arrived at Aldera Junior High with dark circles under his eyes and, for the first time in his life, received celebrity treatment.
At the school gate, students swarmed around him like fans around an idol.
The old hesitation and contempt were nowhere to be seen.
“Ren!
Ren!
I heard your Quirk awakened yesterday.
Can you tell us what it does?”
That one was after gossip.
“Ren, you beat a villain even Pro Heroes couldn’t stop!
You’re amazing!”
That one was very clearly crushing on him.
Of course, there were even more students standing farther away.
They did not crowd him, but the jealousy and doubt in their eyes were impossible to miss.
“All right, move,” Ren said after weathering the chaos for a few seconds.
His face went cold.
“Look at the time.
Class is about to start.”
On the surface, he looked perfectly calm.
The unsettling pressure of his pale eyes, made sharper by the dark circles beneath them, swept across the crowd.
Wherever he looked, students stiffened and backed away.
“Wow.
That’s so cool.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Ren walked through the path they opened for him with his head held high for the first time.
“Hey,” someone whispered.
“Why does he have those shadows around his eyes?
They look like dark circles.”
“Shut up.
What do you know?
That’s probably a sign from his Quirk awakening.”
Someone immediately stepped in to defend their new idol.
Ren, who heard the exchange from up ahead, had to bite back a grimace.
Those really were dark circles.
First, Insight awakened during the Sludge Villain incident.
Then the world’s No.
1 Hero personally handed him a special recommendation to U.A.’s Hero Course.
Ren had managed to act calm from beginning to end, which probably meant his acting skills had reached a supernatural level.
In truth, he had been more excited than anyone.
Naturally, he had not slept.
With nothing else to do, he spent the night studying Insight.
The unexpected discovery from the night before killed his good mood.
His good mood vanished, and he quickened his pace.
When he reached the classroom and opened the door, he had not even seen inside before a furious roar hit him.
“Mikage, you bastard!”
Katsuki Bakugo had clearly been waiting for him for a long time.
He charged over, grabbed Ren by the collar, and glared at him with enough rage to burn through the hallway.
“Why the hell did you save me yesterday?
You think I needed you to save me?
What do you take me for, huh?”
Ren’s predictions had all failed yesterday.
At least Bakugo had not disappointed him.
As expected, the idiot had come looking for trouble.
Ren slapped Bakugo’s hand away and said flatly, “Calm down.
Everyone’s watching.
If you want a fight, after school, same place as usual.
School is still for studying.”
Then his gaze flicked toward Bakugo’s right hand, where dangerous sparks were beginning to gather.
“And don’t let your temper make you stupid.
Remember the law against unauthorized Quirk use.”
“Tch.”
At the mention of the law, Bakugo clicked his tongue and stopped.
He lifted his chin, looking up at Ren with contempt.
“You’d better not forget what you just said.”
Only then did he turn back to his seat.
The reason Bakugo had to look up was simple: Ren was tall.
How tall?
Most junior high students were around five feet tall.
That height was one of the reasons he had always stood out.
And standing out had never made Bakugo kinder.
Bakugo’s pride was so warped it was almost impressive.
In Ren’s old life, he had more than once heard people say they wanted Bakugo gone from the story entirely.
The reason was simple: the guy’s personality hit every sore spot at once.
If those same traits belonged to a cute girl, people might call it a fiery tsundere act.
A gender-swapped Bakugo?
Ren imagined it for half a second, shuddered, and shoved the useless thought out of his head.
He returned to his seat.
The moment he sat down, Izuku Midoriya leaned toward him, eyes shining with envy.
“R-Ren…
did your Quirk really awaken?”
“Yeah.”
Ren pressed a hand to his forehead.
Damn it.
He had forgotten about this guy.
“Everyone, get ready for class.”
Their math teacher walked in at exactly the right moment.
Ren’s eyes lit up.
He immediately pointed toward the front.
“Teacher’s here.
Class time.”
Midoriya had no choice but to swallow his questions and face forward, listening seriously to the lesson.
On the surface, anyway.
The grip strength trainer hidden under Midoriya’s desk did not escape Ren’s eyes.
‘So the story really does correct itself.
All Might still decided to pass One For All to Midoriya.’
Ren let out a quiet breath in his heart.
After everything he had changed, All Might’s final choice was still Izuku Midoriya.
For some reason, that left a faint emptiness in him.
And then there was the other question.
Had he really awakened Insight?
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I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.