Chapter 6 — Class 1-A
Monday, April 8.
Counting it, 35 days had already passed since the examinees received their letters from U.A High School.
Today is the start of a new school year; the opening ceremony day for every school in Japan.
[Class 1-A, right?]
'Yes, Class 1-A. From what I've heard, the Hero Course of U.A. High School has two classes; Class 1-A and Class 1-B.'
[Are there any differences between the two classes?]
'I supposed no? I think the class arrangement is just random or through other methods.'
In the hallway, Shiro was looking at many different door signs to find the classroom of his new class.
It was then,
"Oh, fancy meeting you again! Do you remember me? I believe we've met once before during the entrance exam."
He froze when his eyes met with a familiar girl. Someone he never expected to meet again. This girl had long black hair which was tied into a spiky ponytail. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of onyx that sucked in his soul like the abyss. Along with her tight-fitting uniform, she was the epitome of elegant beauty.
"Hmm, you've changed a lot back then. Did something happen?"
She was surprised to see the boy, who was previously smaller than her, was now nearly towering over her. His overall appearance also changed. If before he resembled a weak and sickly zombie suffering from anxiety, then he now looked more confident and healthy due to his increased weight and the addition of firm muscles that were nonexistent before.
Kuro whistled while looking at the girl before them.
[Shiro, she's the girl you have a crush on.]
'I-I don't! Kuro, shut up for now…'
[Heh…]
Now maybe because of his daily conversation and exercise at the public park with Kuro, Shiro had built up some confidence to communicate with others without being too awkward.
It was all for this moment!
"Yes, I remember you. The kind girl who helped me calm down… I'm surprised you noticed and remembered me."
Shiro let out a few laughs.
"You might have changed, but there's this atmosphere unique to you…"
The girl looked at him in wonder.
[Pfft, she's sensing the nerdy atmosphere around you.]
Shiro's face blackened at those remarks, but then sighed as he knew Kuro meant no harm with those words.
In fact, such jokes made him less nervous before the girl.
"My eyes and memory are also sharp. Maybe that's why. However I'm really curious about your drastic changes…"
"Oh…"
Shiro then said the excuse he prepared on cases like now. Though, he never expected to use it since he wasn't really close with anyone.
"This is the result of a new trial of medical operation to cure my genetic disease… Though not harmful, it still caused these side effects."
"I see… Although I don't know much, I hope you're okay now."
"Yes, I'm fine now."
Shiro let out a reassuring smile.
"By the way, what's your name? I'm Kamado Shiro."
"I'm Yaoyorozuo Momo. It's nice to meet you, Kamado-kun."
Momo then belatedly realized something about Shiro's name.
"Kamado… Ah, aren't you the one that ranked first in the practical exam? Amazing…!"
As he heard her sincere praise, Shiro's cheeks couldn't help but fill with light blushes.
"I'm just lucky… Even now, I still remember how I was so nervous during the exam."
Momo shook her head, her eyes brimming with innocence and sincerity.
"Still, I think you're amazing! Not anyone can do that even with luck."
The blush on his cheeks deepened even further.
"T-Thank you…"
[Our Shiro is experiencing his spring for the first time~~]
'I said I'm not!'
Kuro let out a few knowing laughs.
"So Kamado-kun, what class are you headed to?"
"I'm going to Class 1-A. What about you?"
Momo's eyes lit up.
"I'm also heading to Class 1-A! I never expected us to be classmates!"
Even more surprises came.
[Wow, you're so lucky… Is the Goddess of Luck smiling at you?]
"Then let's go there together."
She agreed with his suggestion as they both walked together.
"Please just call me Shiro. And can we be friends…? "
He asked awkwardly while sweating profusely.
Friends.
Such a concept was something Shiro had never experienced if you exclude Kuro who was something more than just his friend.
Momo smiled at him.
"Sure, Shiro. Let's be friends. Call me Momo, too. To be frank, I'm quite nervous as I don't know if I can make friends…"
Her face when she said those words appeared sad.
"I feel the same… I was homeschooled my entire life, so I really don't know how to make friends properly…"
Shiro bitterly expressed himself.
"R-Really? I was actually homeschooled by my parents, too! To think we've got so many common points…"
She let out a soft laugh. Meanwhile, Shiro was surprised to hear they both got homeschooled.
"Maybe that's why I find it comfortable to talk with you, Shiro."
When he thought about it, Shiro also felt comfortable talking with her.
"I think the same, too…"
After about ten seconds of walking together, they finally found the classroom they were looking for.
"There it is!"
The two friends stood at the entrance of the door in silence. Both of them had their own mixed emotions about entering this classroom.
"I hope we can be friends with everyone…"
Momo stared at the door determinedly.
"Mmm."
Shiro silently agreed.
[Don't worry! True friends come naturally. Hehe, if you still have doubts, then leave it to me, your senior! I'll create a special 'How To Make Friends' book for you two…]
'In the end, it will be me who's going to write it down…'
Shiro could already imagine how exhausting it would take.
"Shiro, let's enter."
Wearing their brave faces, they opened the sliding wooden door to meet their new classmates, but they were quickly greeted with a rather unexpected situation.
"Have respect for our alumni who took great care of these seats! Remove your feet from the desk at once!"
A familiar blue-haired student with glasses was sternly lecturing a spiky blond-haired delinquent.
The delinquent's arrogant and prideful eyes glared at the glasses guy.
"This is only the first day of class, and you're already damaging the school's property by resting your feet on top of this desk!"
The delinquent grew extremely annoyed at the constant nagging.
"Are you shitting me right now!? Who do you think you are to lecture me!?"
The glasses guy was momentarily caught off-guard by such a crude response, but he quickly composed himself and attempted to be the mature student he strived to be.
"My name is Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy."
Tenya extended his hand in respect, but the delinquent wasn't the least bit inclined to reciprocate that respect.
"Soumei, is that right? Well if you think that somehow makes you better than me, then I, Bakugo Katsuki, will show you who's the one superior to you!"
He grinned dangerously as his face threateningly neared Tenya.
However, the two arguing teenagers stopped when they noticed two newcomers entering the classroom.
The other students present in the classroom, who were watching the heated scene between Bakugo and Tenya, also focused their attention on the newcomers standing at the doorway.
"Oh, hi everyone!"
Momo greeted them with a smile, causing them to pay more attention to her because of her elegant appearance like those of nobles.
"Good morning!"
Tenya strutted with his arms moving forward and back like a robot towards them.
"My name is Tenya Iida."
Shiro decided to respond with the same energy to match Tenya's respectful attitude, and he extended his hand for his classmate to shake.
"I'm Kamado Shirogane."
"What!?"
Just as they were about to shake, everyone present got surprised from Bakugo's sudden explosion voice and saw him rise out of his chair.
"You're the bastard that took my first place!?"
Upon hearing that, everyone's eyes widened as they looked at Shiro more interestedly.
[Oh, here comes trouble!]
Shiro looked at him puzzledly before nodding his head.
"It's really him….!"
Some of their classmates gasped in astonishment, a few of them whispering to each other about what they knew.
Now finally meeting the guy who destroyed his goal, Bakugo's blood boiled madly as his long suppressed wrath started to surface.
It even peaked when he noticed another two newcomers arriving behind Shiro and Momo, one of the two newcomers being familiar to him — that damn nerd!
The combined fury and hatred against these two guys was too much for him to contain.
"Just what the hell did you do!? Did you cheat!?"
Bakugo suddenly jabbed his finger at Shiro's chest, causing the latter to gaze at him as if he was observing.
"How did you get so many freaking points?"
His action caused the whole class to gasp, Momo looking at him in furrowed brows, while the green-haired boy behind them looked afraid.
"Stop."
Shiro pushed his hand away as the memories of being bullied and humiliated in the past started to resurface in his mind.
He felt a stuffy sensation rising from his heart and then throat.
What was this feeling?
His body started to heat up.
It was anger.
[Shiro, calm down.]
'Sorry…'
Shiro took a deep breath and then saw how the delinquent frowned even more hideously after his hand got pushed away.
"I did not cheat… As for how I did, it does not concern you."
Just judging by his personality, Shiro knew no explanation would pacify this guy
He just wanted to end this.
"He is correct!"
Tenya was appalled by the fiery hatred Bakugo was displaying, and in a dramatic fashion, sliced his hand between the two to separate them.
"Your behavior is simply unacceptable! Return to your seat!"
Bakugo shot his burning stare at him, causing Tenya to tense his body up.
Although he wanted to continue questioning Shiro to find out his quirk, he also understood that if he made a scene right now, he would more than likely get in trouble with the teachers.
"Tch!"
Bakugo clicked his tongue and marched back to his seat.
Shiro and Momo looked at each other before sighing in relief.
Then suddenly,
"U.A. High School isn't a place for you to focus on making friends. If that's all you're here to do, then pack up your stuff and leave."
All of them then got startled by a man with long messy hair and an unkempt beard who was lying on the ground in a sleeping bag.
"Welcome to U.A.'s Hero Course."
The man got himself off the floor and unzipped his sleeping bag, revealing his clothing, which consisted of a black, long-sleeved shirt and matching pants which were tucked into his black boots. Wrapped around his neck was a very long and thick white scarf.
"Now listen here. In my class, I expect discipline and focus from all of you, so when I come in, you need to be silent within three seconds, not this wasteful eight-second period you just demonstrated. The time spent in class is precious. A truly rational student would understand this easily."
The class complained at this man's appearance that contrasted with his serious demeanor.
The man walked into the room so that all of the students could see him.
"Hello students. My name is Shota Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the year."
Everyone in the classroom internally gasped. This ill-dressed man with shaggy hair was their teacher? What was U.A. thinking when they hired them?
"Okay, enough formalities."
Aizawa rummaged around his sleeping bag and took out a blue jumpsuit with white patches around the upper arms, legs, and chest, along with red outlines surrounding the white sections.
The students couldn't comprehend what their teacher was about to do.
"Put these on, and head outside. I expect you to be ready in ten minutes."
The students didn't waste any time and immediately got up from their desks to get their jumpsuits from Mr. Aizawa.
While all of them got out of their seats, Shiro started to observe his classmates one by one.
Some of his classmates were mutants that had unique features. For example, one of them had six arms, while another had the head of a black bird, and there was even one girl who was entirely pink, with a small antennae sticking out of her hair.
[Hey Shiro! There's a guy who resembles you! Oh no, your character design is no longer unique…]
You're right…
The guy in question had smooth hair that was half-white and half-red. The two hair colors were exactly separated at the center partitions. His two eyes were also different, one was normal black while the other was blue.
[It's fortunate your face is different from him… Also, your black and white hair colors aren't exactly split in half. Your white hair appears more dominant than the black hair. It's also styled differently, not as gloomy as that guy!]
Hahaha… Is that supposed to comfort me?
[I guess so.]
(A/N: His appearance resembles Haruka from Wind Breaker. However, the hair color is reversed with the white hair being more dominant than the black.]
…
"A Quirk Assessment Test?!"
Unlike everyone's expectations of attending the opening ceremony just like other classes, they were presented with another situation.
"Quirk assessment…"
As a quirkless, Shiro was presented with most difficult test at the first bat.