Chapter 20: Orientation (Patreon)

Edit: 23/03/2024: Added the chap to the collection, how tf did I not put it in here when it released, I don't know, but damn was I a goof.

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Ochako was relieved. Terrified, but relieved.

The scare their homeroom teacher gave them was something that wouldn’t be leaving her anytime soon. Hell, she was pretty sure she was traumatized by anything that looked remotely close to shaggy and black.

That was not to say their teacher didn’t have a point. In fact, Aizawa had a huge point. The world wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to her family; it wouldn’t be fair to her as well.

Here she thought being a hero would be slightly easier, a job that could land her the big bucks if she got started with a bang. Those childish dreams were nothing but ashes now, all thanks to their homeroom teacher.

A tiny glance at their classmate who was nothing but a set of floating clothes, the female uniform variant, was enough to elicit a pang of sympathy for the poor girl.

She was sure if she was the one in her position, she would be fuming and hurling insults at their homeroom teacher mentally. She was still doing it right now as they made their way to their classroom as one big group.

Looking over the rest of her classmates, she saw various expressions on each of their faces. A group was all relieved and having a bit of fun, they consisted of the pink-skinned girl that got Aizawa to throw them a bomb, the redhead who kept on screaming “manly”, the electric-themed teen and the invisible girl.

Another group was the white-haired teen that saved her in the Entrance Exam, Izuku Midoriya, if she heard his name correctly, followed by the blue-haired hard ass, the blond who had a face that looked like he sucked on a lemon, the frog girl, and surprisingly, the ravenette who called out Aizawa was lying the entire time.

He didn’t sound like it at the time, however.

Frowning, she slowed down, trying to get closer to the group with Izuku. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she kept on gravitating towards him whenever he was around.

Whether it was out of misplaced affection, gratitude for being her savior, or something in between, she still had no clue.

She needed to know, just to settle down the feeling that thumped her heart like a beating drum.

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Denki Kaminari considered himself a laid-back type of guy. A go with the flow kind of dude. His passions for being a hero just because it was cool was something that drove him to this school, after all.

Boy, was that a huge mistake.

First day in and teach decided to squeeze them through a gauntlet. His arms were still sore from trying to do so many push-ups within an allotted time. The less said about his trembling legs and aching stomach, the better.

Just looking at the list earlier made his heart drop, and then soar the moment he saw he wasn’t last. But he was close.

19th place. 19th fucking place.

Hell, the midget behind him ogling the females in his class placed even higher than him thanks to that side-step exercise. What did he have that was considered hero-worthy?

Nothing, that’s what.

A single glimpse of how much stronger his classmates were than he was. He was lucky the entrance exam consisted of fighting robots. Just a single jolt from his quirk and a robot was fried. If it was used against anything other than them? He guessed it wouldn’t have been enough to land him a spot in the Hero Course.

Looking at the invisible girl happily chatting to Mina about something girl-related, a pit formed within his stomach.

How good was the girl when she landed on the Hero Course with just an invisibility quirk? No physical enhancements, no kind of ability to even the playing field.

She was just invisible, and the robots with their scanners - if they had one - would clearly see her while she dealt with them. And she was the last place in the Quirk Apprehension Test!

Just a single place below him!

How badly that must’ve stung for his pride and ego. Here he was, thinking everything would be smooth sailing just because he got in the course, but no, of course they weren’t going to get special treatment.

The memories of trying to train his quirk in the past flickered in his mind, the various attempts of reining in control, only to have it backfire and fry his mind instead. He gave up after a year or so, and just hoped to coast on through with just how devastating his quirk was in close-range.

What a fool he’d been.

He vowed, starting now, he would try to find ways to make himself stronger. If not for staying in the Hero Course and become a hero in the future, but to himself.

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The class slowly made their way through the hallways leading back to their room, their chatter and footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. It wasn’t long before they finally arrived at their destination, the huge door separating them from their classroom and the empty hallways.

Tenya, the rule-abiding teen that he was, was the first to approach the door and open it for the rest of his class to enter, only to stop midway once he saw the silhouette of a tiny animal sitting on the teacher’s desk with a large grin on his face.

“Ah, finally. Took you all a while to arrive.” Nezu clapped his paws while his legs swung in the air. “Come in. Come in. We still have to go through your own orientation, that you all have no doubt missed due to Aizawa’s way of teaching his own.”

Tenya was a bit surprised at the sudden appearance of their principal, but who was he to deny what the being with the most power in this school wanted?

“One by one, enter the classroom in an orderly fashion, please!” Tenya opened the door fully and moved to one side while he motioned for the rest of his classmates to enter.

Most of the students fidgeted in place while some led the charge into the semi-empty classroom with Izuku at the head, an ever-present grin etched into his face.

Without further pause, the rest followed and silently went to their seats and focused their attention on the principal of the school, the chairs and desks screeching as they were moved or scraped against the floor.

“Orderly students, aren’t you all?” Nezu chuckled and stood on the desk, his over-sized shoes looking a bit ridiculous for his entire demeanor. “Anyway, as you all have known, the first-year orientation, hosted by yours truly, was supposed to be held with both you and your sister class 1-B.”

The students sat silently as their eyes bored into their principal, ears attentive to better gather what the quirked animal had to say.

“And as usual with past 1-A classes with your homeroom teacher, Aizawa decided to bring you all out to the track and field to take your Quirk Apprehension Exam, which is supposed to be scheduled for tomorrow.” Nezu sighed and some of the students fidgeted in place. “Which brings me to seeing you all here, to once again give class 1-A a private orientation just for them. A minor inconvenience for me, I assure you.”

Izuku played with the pen on his desk as he dedicated one ear to listening to the RAT GOD while Katsuki kept on stealing glances at the changed teen.

“So, without further ado, allow me to start.” Nezu clapped his paws, before his eyes zeroed in on Izuku playing with his pen. “Before that, Midoriya, would you please stop playing with your pen and listen?”

“Oops, sorry RAT GOD.” The rest of the class shot him incredulous and shocked glares. “Pen just looked similar to something I had before.”

“Ah, as much as I like you stroking my ego, please refrain from doing anything while I’m talking.” Nezu chuckled good-heartedly as he waved his paws. Now the rest of the class was looking at the principal like he grew a second head. “A student is supposed to listen so they can learn to grow, after all.”

Izuku nodded and dropped his pen on the desk, a loud thwack echoing through the now silent room.

“Now then, as I was saying, welcome to U.A. High School.” Nezu proceeded as usual, not caring about the befuddled glanced thrown at him by the hero students. “First off, introductions, am I a bear? A cat? A dog? Truth is, I am principal Nezu!”

He raised his arms to the air and Izuku got a bit of a flashback to one of his friends who sometimes did that pose as he stared directly into the sun. He wondered how his eyeballs had worked after that.

“Sadly, the rest of the teachers now have class, so you all will have to be acquainted with them some time else.” Nezu lowered his arms back down and dropped from the desk. “Now, a question. Why are you here? Koda Koji?”

The student in question stiffened as he got mentioned by name. He was somewhat huge, with a rock-like head and muscular arms.

“Uh… Uhhh…. Ahhh…” Gasps and whispers was his only response as he huddled not unlike an armadillo.

“No need to be shy, Koda.” Nezu waddled closer to the student with a calming grin. “A hero must learn how to be approachable to ensure the faith in the common populace, a trait all heroes must have whether they be underground or not.”

Koda looked up slightly while his back trembled, eyes glistening slightly as he stared at Nezu.

“So please, tell me. Why are you here? What do you want to learn by being here?”

“Uh… Aahh.. T-to… Be… Be a b-better hero…” His whispers didn’t carry far, some of the students leaning in closer just to hear what the rock headed teen said.

“A better hero. Why not just a hero?” Nezu turned around and waddled back to the desk and jumped onto it with a single leap. “Why not strive to be another hero like those already portrayed in media?”

“Sir!” Tenya quickly raised his hand and Nezu was all too happy to let the teen speak. “It is because we, as students at this prestigious school, strive to be better than our peers, to uphold the ideals of the heroes who have given their all for this time of peace in the world!”

“A charming answer!” Nezu clapped his paws once more, grin flashing at full force. “To be a hero for our ideals, for our lives, and the lives of others. What else? Anybody else?”

“Sir, if I may.” A hand from all the way in the back was raised and Nezu allowed the student stand up, revealing her raven-black hair styled into a ponytail. “As a hero, it is our duty to stand for those who cannot. To protect those that needs protecting and ensure peace and order is maintained for our futures.”

“Marvelous answer.” Nezu clapped once more and let the teen sit. “Thank you for your answer, Yaoyorozu Momo.”

At this point, the class was now murmuring to each other or to themselves, trying to figure out why they were here. They wanted to be heroes, true, but what then? Once they became a hero, what then?

“Now then, another question. Why a hero specifically?” Nezu’s words caused the room to go silent, the students looking at each other in confusion at the certain question. “Anyone? No one? Oh dear.”

The air went tense as the voice of the rat went down an octave.

“Such a shame. While not all of you, some of you have the reasons why to be a hero, but not why a hero specifically.” Nezu shook his head as he pointed his paws at Tenya. “You said you wanted to uphold the ideals of the heroes, but isn’t that possible just by being a good person in nature? Helping others when they need it, doing society good by helping with various efforts.”

Tenya looked a bit confused and was still confused a few minutes later.

“And you, Yaoyorozu.” Nezu motioned towards the raven-haired ponytail. “You said you wanted to protect those that cannot protect themselves. Then isn’t there the police? Or how about any other institution that do the same things?”

Now Yaoyorozu was quiet. Looking at her face, it was clear what she was thinking about.

“Why a hero exactly?” Nezu glanced all over the class but was slightly disappointed when none of them tried to answer. “Oh well, this is why all of you are here. To learn why you want to be a hero. You are all first years; it is normal for those at your age to still be confused as to what being a hero truly is. But to truly simplify, why you all want to be a hero exactly.”

Nezu grinned and spread his arms open.

“It is because you all want to be heroes.” And now the class was even more confused, except for Izuku who was silently cackling to himself. “There is no other answer. If you didn’t want to be one, then you wouldn’t be here. But remember these words, students. Just because you are already here, doesn’t mean your struggles are at an end.”

Nezu waved as he went for the door.

“It just the beginning. Go Plus Ultra. We’ll see if you all have what it takes to be declared, a bona fide hero.” As the rat approached the door, it opened automatically, causing the students to go bug-eyed at the sight. Nezu stopped for a moment and looked back with a glint in his eye. “This school will throw hardship upon hardship at each of you. Prove to us that we weren’t wrong to accept you in this course. See you all next time, my dear students.”

And with his parting words, the doors shut close, leaving the students stewing in their own thoughts.