It took me a few damn weeks to actually get used to this academy.
Waking up at the ass-crack of dawn, dragging myself to classes, sitting through lectures about hero ethics and Quirk control – it was a grind I didn’t sign up for.
But if I wanted to blend in and not look like some suspicious bastard, I had to play along.
This wasn’t my world, not originally, and I sure as hell wasn’t here to play nice or kiss ass.
I had a job to do: rewrite the future without screwing it all up.
The main events rolled out like clockwork if I didn’t mess with ’em.
Take the class rep vote, for instance.
Midoriya Izuku and Yaoyorozu Momo nabbed class representative and vice representative, just like in the original timeline I remembered.
No surprise there – Izuku’s the golden boy, and Momo’s got brains for days.
Me, though?
I threw my vote to Ida Tenya on a whim.
In the story I knew, he got zilch, but this time, I figured why not.
So instead of him eating a big fat zero, it’s my ass with no votes.
Didn’t give a damn, though.
I wasn’t here to win a popularity contest or make buddies without any purpose.
And the slightly contemptuous looks from everyone in the class were enough to confirm to me that these guys were definitely still bitter about me roasting them and stealing points on the entrance exam…
But when Ida found out I’d tossed him my vote, the kid looked at me like I’d grown a second head.
His eyes – big, round, and way too intense – locked onto me like I was some kinda mystery he needed to crack.
It was weird as hell, and I didn’t know what to do with it.
Was he grateful?
Suspicious?
Both?
I didn’t stick around to figure it out.
I muttered some half-assed excuse and bolted before lunch hit, avoiding the awkward small talk I knew I’d fumble.
Truth is, I don’t vibe with crowds.
Never have.
Chatting up people my age feels like pulling teeth – I suck at it, and I hate it.
Plus, I had bigger shit to deal with, like phase two of my plan.
So I grabbed the bento I’d slapped together at home and hauled ass to the rooftop.
It was quiet up there, away from the chatter and chaos of the cafeteria.
Just me, my food, and the open sky.
Perfect spot to think.
I plopped down against the railing, popped open my bento, and started shoveling rice into my mouth.
As I ate, my brain kicked into gear, sketching out a rough plan to tweak this damn story without sending it spiraling into a total shitshow.
Step one: stop the League of Villains from getting their claws into Toga Himiko.
That was my mission, my obsession.
If I could pull her away from their messed-up crew, I could change everything – not just for her, but for Class 1-A and the whole damn society.
Toga, along with Todoroki Toya – better known as Dabi – hooked up with the League after Stain, the “Hero Killer,” got nabbed.
I didn’t have a damn clue where she was right now; the story never gave me that much to work with.
For the past few nights of weeks, I’ve been meticulously searching for her, especially looking for anyone with suspicious eyes or behavior.
The most frustrating thing is that places I thought she’d escaped to end up in the news just days later, driving me crazy and making it impossible to figure out what was going on.
I admit, it wasn’t easy at all.
It drove me insane.
But that only made me admire her ability to blend into the crowd even more.
I could understand her.
And she could still be saved, as well as villains and misguided individuals who have embarked on this path.
I had to find her first, and time wasn’t on my side.
If I screwed this up, if I let her slip through my fingers, the fallout would be catastrophic.
The League would get stronger, Class 1-A would take bigger hits, and the whole hero system would feel the ripple.
No pressure or anything.
As I sat there, chewing on my food and staring out at the horizon, my mind drifted.
It wasn’t just about strategy anymore.
It was personal.
I couldn’t help but think back to before all this, before I woke up in this world, in this body, as Onodera Ryuga.
Back then, I wasn’t some time/space-traveling badass with a Quirk and a mission.
I was just a nobody, stuck in a world without heroes or villains, living a life of a NEET that felt like a slow death.
I’d spend hours alone in my shitty little room, the only light coming from my computer screen.
Anime, manga, games – those were my escape.
Stories where people had powers, where they could fight for something, be something bigger than themselves.
It was everything my real life wasn’t.
I didn’t fit in anywhere.
School was a nightmare – others either ignored me or picked on me ’cause I wasn’t like them.
I was quiet, awkward, different.
I tried to make friends once or twice, but it always blew up in my face.
They’d act cool to my face, then talk shit behind my back.
After a while, I stopped bothering.
It was easier to be alone than to deal with the betrayal, so that’s why I dropped out of university – where I tried to study to become a chemist before, left home, found a shitty place to live with a cheap laptop to work translating mangas and live a miserable life day by day…
Being alone didn’t fix anything.
It just made the emptiness worse.
I’d walk through crowded streets, surrounded by people laughing and living, and feel like a ghost.
Invisible.
Out of place.
I’d see friends hanging out, families joking around, and it’d hit me hard.
Why couldn’t I have that?
Why did I always feel like I didn’t belong?
Like I was stuck on the outside, looking in?
I wanted to be myself, but I didn’t even know who that was.
Every time I tried, people looked at me weird, judged me, pushed me away.
So I learned to hide.
I’d put on a mask, act how they wanted me to act, just to get by.
But it was exhausting.
Suffocating.
I’d lie awake at night, wondering if this was all there was – pretending forever, never free, never real.
Then, in that day, it all changed.
Thanks to that truck, I was transported here, to this world, to the body of a character that wasn’t even mentioned in the original story, with a Quirk I didn’t understand and a head full of memories from a story I’d watched a hundred times.
At first, I thought it was a pipe dream, some nerdy fantasy gone wild.
But the pain was real.
The sounds, the smells, the weight of it all – it was no damn dream.
When the shock wore off, I saw a chance.
A shot to do something that mattered.
I wasn’t just a loser anymore; I had power, knowledge, and a big-ass purpose.
But even here, in this insane world of heroes and villains, I couldn’t shake the loneliness.
Those kids at U.A – they were so damn driven, so full of hope, chasing their dreams like it was easy.
And me?
I was still the outsider, playing a role, hiding who I really was.
That’s when I thought of Toga Himiko after realizing how deep this world is.
In the story, she was a villain, a blood-obsessed nutcase who carved her way through life with a smile.
But I saw past that.
She wasn’t just crazy – she was just…lost…
Misunderstood…
She wanted to be herself, to love and live on her own terms, but the world wouldn’t let her be.
They called her a freak, a monster due to her Quirk, so she became one.
How ironic.
I got it ’cause I’d been there.
The isolation, the desperation, the feeling of being trapped in a cage you couldn’t break.
If I could reach her, show her there was another way, maybe I could save her from that fate.
And maybe, just maybe, I’d save myself too.
Helping her wasn’t just about changing the story – it was about finding a place where I could finally stop pretending, where I could be…me.
And no, I don’t have any crush on her.
Just…not now…
…
I snapped out of it, shaking my head to clear the fog.
No point in wallowing there was work to do.
I stuffed the last bite of my bento in my mouth and came back to the class.
A bit later, shit hit the fan – reporters stormed U.A.
like a swarm of pissed-off bees, turning the cafeteria into a damn circus.
I didn’t bother stepping in; Ida Tenya handled it like a pro, just like I remembered from the original timeline.
Izuku even handed off the class prez gig to him after, which was no shock at all.
But instead of soaking in the leadership vibes, Ida kept shooting me these suspicious looks that got on my damn nerves.
Sure enough, after class, he cornered me like a man on a mission.
“Onodera, did you know this from the start?”
“Know what?” I shot back, playing dumb.
“What Izuku just said in class!” he said, his voice rising a bit.
“How did you guess…”
“You deserve that position.
Midoriya can’t handle it.
I like him, but that doesn’t mean I’m biased towards anyone.
At least…not now.”
I didn’t wait for him to argue.
I walked off, prepared a plan to continue the hunt tonight..
…
This was truly like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Since last night, I’ve searched the entire cordoned-off area for her, and I haven’t seen anyone or anything suspicious at all.
Another night that led nowhere.
Maybe the plot just hasn’t introduced her yet…
Honestly, I’m incredibly tired and have absolutely no energy left.
Sleeping only 1-3 hours a night after searching for the past few weeks has left my brain almost incapable of making accurate judgments.
It feels like I could fall asleep right here, sitting here.
Terrible…
You can’t do anything right in the end…
How useless I am…
“Are you lost?”
A high-pitched voice came from nearby, drawing my attention.
And as I looked to see who was making the sound, luck seemed to be on my side, though it came at a particularly awkward time.
Sitting beside me was a small girl with ash-blonde hair, a pretty face with a slight blush, and eyes that seemed to be scrutinizing me.
She was wearing a seifuku (traditional Japanese tunic), paired with an oversized beige cardigan and dark brown schoolgirl-style ballet flats.
And with just that much, I was absolutely certain this was exactly the person I was looking for.
“Um…
Could you help me get a taxi?
I’m so tired…
I can’t get up anymore…”
How the hell could I be drunk?
That’s a lie.
But this kind of “right person, wrong time” situation is even worse.
My limits have been reached, and if I stay awake one more night, I could sleep for two days straight.
I’m not even sure if tonight will be my last night in this world…
Toga, realizing my exhaustion was real, flashed a devilish smile and replied without hesitation.
“Okay, cutie pie, let me help you.” She said, lifting me up, putting her arm around my shoulder, and leading me slowly into the alley.
Did she just called me”cutie pie”???
Nevermind.
…
After about five minutes, she stopped, let me fall flat on my face, then suddenly sat on top of me, firmly gripping a knife in her hand, a wicked grin stretching from ear to ear as if she were ecstatic.
“Wow, I’m really lucky today.
Don’t worry, handsome, I’m going to love you so much~” She raised the knife, preparing to slowly and deliberately plunge it into my throat with her trembling hands.
Okay, enough of that act.
Watching a 15-year-old girl sitting on top of me, preparing to stab me and do something sick and perverted, it was romantic, but the problem was, I wanted to live.
Immediately, I grabbed her waist, making her jump in surprise.
Before she could bring the knife down, I activated my Quirk, transforming my frontal bone into solid steel, thrust my upper body forward, and delivered a literal Iron Headbutt straight to her skull
She took the full force of the iron headbutt, instantly becoming dizzy, then gradually losing consciousness.
“Hey…
Don’t tell me I…
killed her…?
Damn it, no.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
This can happen!!!”
This isn’t good.
No, no, NO!
Damn it!
Check her pulse.
I have to check her pulse immediately.
Her breathing, everything…
“Her pulse is still beating, her breathing is still slow…
Good…
Calm down, Ryuga…”
Everything…
really…
is this ridiculously easy?
Just because I look like Izuku by some kind of transitive property?
No.
This is only stage 1.
Now I need to get her home immediately before things get worse.
Only the police and heroes know her face from the wanted poster, and releasing information about a juvenile offender is almost impossible here, so maybe I still have a chance.
But I have to hurry…