“Okay.
That’s 6000 yen in total.
Do you want me to wrap them up?”
“Yeah.
Go ahead.”
Oh my god.
This is really weird, to be honest.
I haven’t even been at U.A.
for a day yet, and on this very night, which is today, I bought a whole bunch of stuff that anyone would say makes me look like a pervert.
A gag, thin-diameter Shibari ropes, leather handcuffs, blindfolds.
Who would buy these to restrain a criminal?
Of course, it’s…me.
And this whole thing cost me quite a bit, but at least it’s reliable and reusable.
Using rags and plastic cable ties is cheaper, but it’s incredibly unreliable if the other party can find a way to cut through that flimsy plastic.
Seeing the cashier staring at me like I was some kind of perverted teenager, I really didn’t know where to hide to avoid the embarrassment.
But even so, I had to endure it, because it’s better to endure humiliation than to be targeted for buying anything military-grade or not intended for civilian use.
Once I left the adult toy store, my next step was to plan how to find my target.
And who else is here besides that crazy kid who loves ketchup and plays with knives like a British gentleman?
Toga Himiko.
In the canon timeline, her reason for becoming a criminal was “I want a world that accepts me,” or something like that.
That’s true; if it were me, I’d make things much worse.
A world that considers her Quirks abnormal, an environment that suppresses and imposes instead of guiding her down the right path, and a wounded heart that only longs for love – that’s enough to create any deranged serial killer.
She’s pitiable, and also blameworthy.
A juvenile criminal wielding a cold weapon to hunt is something no one can accept.
Even me, although in reality, in this world, I’d want to kill far more people than she does.
The truth is, by now she’s probably already a serial killer.
And her Quirk is causing the police a huge headache trying to track her down, so finding her is probably harder than climbing to heaven.
Fine, I’ll do it myself.
Maybe I should start narrowing down my search based on what the police have released.
Hiring just anyone to find her is too risky given my current identity, and it could even implicate them…
…
Next damn day rolled in, and after All Might’s loud, awkward-as-fuck intro to the class with his big grin, booming voice, the whole overblown circus,…we got our hero gear.
Each piece was custom-built, some fancy-ass shit to juice up our Quirks and cover our weak spots.
Uraraka’s getup kept her floating without puking her guts out, Ida’s had engines bolted to his legs – practical as hell.
Mine?
Looked plain next to the others.
Just a black bulletproof tux with a bow tie, matching pants that could take a slug, gloves, shoes, and night-vision specs rigged up like regular glasses.
Slapped on a silver half-oni-mask to hide my mug and a slick “office” briefcase packed with papers, a bottle of Spirytus for antiseptic and a bunch of survival and fight-ready junk.
I’d only barked some simple orders: “Tough, cut-proof, fireproof, mold-proof, comfy, easy to use, low-maintenance, and don’t let it scream ‘hero.'” So yeah, it just looked like some slick suit – nothing flashy, nothing begging for attention.
Izuku’s, though?
A mess of details compared to mine.
His mom sewed it up, just like in the canon.
Green jumpsuit, red belt, clunky red boots, black knee pads, and a mask that was straight-up All Might fanboy bait – right down to the dumbass grin stitched on.
He couldn’t hide his admiration for the guy if he tried.
As for the others?
Their costumes were…
certainly unique and practical for each person’s Quirk.
Take Yaoyorozu, for example, wearing an outfit with the belly and chest all slashed open just to make it easy to craft items- sure, it’s handy, but it’s got this ero vibe somehow.
As for Bakugo, those two grenades strapped on the arms like support gear?
I swear to god, they look like a total pain in the ass, not to mention if you’re not careful, you might fuck yourself up so bad you can’t even clap your hands later…
All Might laid out the rules next.
Two teams, picked outta a hat, slugging it out.
Team one’s the heroes – gotta nab the bad guys or shut down a fake nuke in 15 minutes.
Team two’s the villains gotta fuck up the heroes or guard the “weapon” for the same stretch.
With 21 of us in the class, I’d get paired up later, solo.
Perfect, meant I didn’t have to cram into a squad and screw the balance.
Plus, I wanted to eyeball if Izuku could pull his actions together like in the original without me sticking my nose in.
First up: Team A as heroes, Team D as villains.
Heroes were Izuku and Uraraka; villains were Bakugo and Ida.
Couldn’t have rigged a better kickoff if I’d tried.
I left the staging area with the rest of the class to watch from a distance, keeping my peepers sharp.
“Onodera-san, where are you going?
Test ain’t even started yet…” Izuku piped up, looking at me like a lost puppy.
“Just learning from the sidelines,” I said, flashing a grin under the mask.
“Watching from my own angle.”
He nodded, still looking like he’d lost the plot, then hauled ass into the building with Uraraka to prep.
…
The combat trial finally wrapped, and all my stressing turned out to be a waste of time.
Shit went down exactly like it was supposed to.
Bakugo’s sloppy-ass explosion tantrum, the clusterfuck that came after all of it lined up with the manga like clockwork.
Only difference was watching it live, which kicked way more ass than skimming pages.
When it was done, I swaggered back to the site and call Ochako to bring him away.
“Uraraka-san, can you please take him to the medbay?
Leaving him here any longer is not a good idea at all.”
Without waiting for a word in reply, Ochako immediately approached Izuku, using her Quirk to lift him up and carry him away urgently.
“Thanks, Onodera-san,” Izuku said with a wobbly smile before disappearing.
All Might strutted over right after, still puffed up like a damn parade float.
“Hey!
Good work out there.
Smart move, kid.”
“Thanks, Sensei,” I said, shrugging it off.
He shot me this weird-ass look, half curious, half something I couldn’t pin, then said.
“Onodera, you’re up next.”
“With whom?
I’m the odd out, remember…?”
“Nope, one-on-one with me!” he roared, grinning like a psycho.
“You’re the last, and it’s my job to train everyone.
Let’s do this!”
“For real…?
Alright, if that’s what you want, sensei,” I grumbled, a little pissed.
…
When the roles were assigned, unfortunately, I was on the bomb-guarding side, while All Might, obviously, was on the bomb-deactivating side.
And it didn’t take long before he charged in like a wrecking ball, a smile still on his face even as he looked at me as if he were waiting to surrender.
“Are you going to give up so easily?” All Might still smiled at me, but his eyes began to show a hint of disappointment.
“Not yet,” I replied, then handed him a carefully wrapped packet of grape sugar.
“At least you should replenish something.
That wound has left you barely able to eat anything normal, right?”
Hearing this, his eyes suddenly became serious, and his smile seemed forced, as if he were trying to keep himself from revealing anything.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” he replied.
“But anyway, thank you for this thoughtful gift, even though it’s a bit like…”
“No, no, it’s not what you think.
It’s just refined sugar.” I tried to sound flustered.
“This packaging…
um…
it just helps to keep it airtight.
This kind of sugar melts easily.”
Well, at least he knew how to change the subject.
Bringing up his little-known secret so blatantly was a suicidal move that I was too stupid to realize.
And luckily, he also left me a way out…
Right after it started, I juiced myself up with Titanium-Tungsten alloy – hard and durable, sprinted towards him at maximum speed, trying to use his kinetic energy and sturdy body to at least land one blow on him on surprise.
But this is like trying to fight a rock with an egg.
He still got my jaw smashed by a punch without any pretense, without any effort, and he didn’t even show the slightest sign of concern.
My whole body flew backward, crashing through two concrete walls before slamming into a supporting pillar.
“Fuck…”
I coughed up a mouthful of blood.
My vision blurred.
Pain.
It hurt like hell.
Even though I had hardened, the shockwave was still too much for my muscles and bones.
He was still standing there, smoke rising from his fist.
He hadn’t even used more than 5% of his power.
“Using a gift to create an opportunity to attack is a good idea.,” he said, walking slowly like death itself.
“But you need to prepare more thoroughly, kid..”
I struggled to my feet, my limbs trembling.
So this is the power of a Top 1?
The gap…
is immeasurable.
The match ended in less than 30 seconds.
Guess I’ve still got a long road to haul before I’m ready for this crap.
He definitely went soft on me, though – I could still crawl to the med bay after.
Even with my Quirk soaking some damage, I was a mess of cracked bones.
If I were some normal dumbass, I’d be toast – or at least fucked up beyond fixing.
…
When I dragged my ass into the med bay, Izuku was already there, zonked out on a bed.
All Might was there too, catching hell from Recovery Girl for dumping Izuku in here three damn times since school started, and for punching another student hard enough to dislocate a jaw and break several bone, then whispered about One For All’s deal later – shit I already knew, so I let it slide past.
No point sweating stuff I’d already clocked.