The Next Day
"For today's basic hero training, it'll be a class led by three instructors—me, All Might, and another teacher," Aizawa explained, his tone even as usual.
"Excuse me! What are we doing today?" Sero blurted out, his voice echoing through the room and causing a ripple of excitement among the students.
Aizawa held up a card with the word RESCUE boldly printed in blue letters. "Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between. Today is rescue training."
The class buzzed with anticipation and chatter, but Akira only spun her pen, muttering, "Boringgg." Unfortunately, she'd said it a bit too loud.
"Do you think—" Aizawa-sensei paused, noticing as a dark mist began to swirl around Akira.
Author's POV:
When the mist cleared, everyone gasped in shock. Instead of the confident hero-in-training they knew, there stood Akira—now looking no older than six.
"Where is it?" Little Akira demanded, her small fists clenched and a frustrated pout on her face.
Kaminari blinked. "Uh...what just happened? Is this...a prank or something?"
"Akira, are you...feeling okay?" asked Uraraka cautiously, leaning in with wide eyes.
Little Akira scrunched her nose, ignoring them as she continued searching. "Where's my candy?" she huffed, tiny fingers patting down her pockets in vain.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Interesting turn of events. Seems like you've got some explaining to do, Akira."
With a puzzled frown, Akira tilted her head up at Aizawa. "Who are you, mister?" she asked, her voice a high-pitched echo of her usual tone, clearly without a memory of being a student.
The students exchanged bewildered glances, trying to hold back laughs as Aizawa rubbed his temples.
Aizawa rubbed his temples, exhaling sharply. "Alright, Akira, since you're...uh, temporarily a child, you'll be staying with Midnight for the day," he said, attempting to keep his usual calm.
Midnight's eye twitched. "Babysitting duty? Really, Aizawa?" She folded her arms with a dramatic sigh. As she was passing by. "Just what I needed today."
Little Akira scrunched her nose up at Midnight. "Why is the lady so grumpy?" she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Midnight's eyebrow arched, her expression a mix of amusement and irritation. "Oh, I'm only grumpy because I'm about to spend the day with a little gremlin who thinks rescue training is boring."
Akira shrugged nonchalantly, sticking out her tongue. "I don't need rescue training. I'm the strongest! Like, ever."
"Alright, alright, let's keep the chaos to a minimum," Aizawa intervened, already feeling a headache coming on. "Let's head to USJ. And Midnight," he said, glancing at her, "just... keep her out of trouble."
Midnight groaned, giving a reluctant nod. "Fine. C'mon, little miss strongest-ever," she said, leading Akira out by her hand as Akira glared at being dragged along.
After the USJ Incident
Hours later, the students and teachers returned to UA from the USJ. Though shaken, they were unharmed, thanks to Aizawa and All Might's combined efforts.
After the USJ incident, Midnight gently led young Akira back to the infirmary, her tiny hands gripping Midnight's fingers as they entered the dimly lit room. Aizawa was lying on a bed, bandaged and clearly exhausted from the battle. Midnight gave him a faint nod as she helped Akira climb onto a chair beside him.
Aizawa winced, looking at the six-year-old Akira with a mix of surprise and concern. "How'd you end up like this, Gojo?"
Midnight sighed, crossing her arms. "It's not as simple as I thought. Turns out, the transformation is a result of Akira's own immense power pushing back against something dark and foreign that latched onto her."
Aizawa frowned. "Go on."
Midnight leaned against the wall, her expression grim. "I did some analysis while you were gone. There's a strange energy signature around her — almost like a curse, but more complex. It's as if Akira's own power sensed something dangerous and regressed her to a child as a self-defense mechanism, trapping the foreign energy and preventing it from taking control."
Akira shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her small arms with that familiar Gojo confidence. "So, my powers turned me into a kid just to keep me safe, huh? That's ironic." Akira said. "What's my power?"
Midnight gave her a sympathetic smile. "For now, this form is keeping you stable. But we need to figure out what this energy is — and how to get rid of it before it grows stronger."
Aizawa's eyes softened slightly. "So until then, you'll stay like this, Gojo. Midnight and I will be looking after you closely. Don't get any bright ideas."
Akira, undeterred by the situation, smirked. "Oh, don't worry, Aizawa-sensei. I'm still the strongest." Aizawa smirked on the comment.
The next day dawned with a peaceful quiet over UA. Midnight had just about gotten used to Akira's six-year-old form and the never-ending string of "why" questions that had come with it. Akira's powerful, confident self was nowhere to be seen; instead, she'd spent the previous day as a curious, annoyingly energetic child who remembered nothing about her life as a student hero.
"Good morning, Midnight!" Akira chirped, her tiny form bouncing over to Midnight, who was already nursing a strong coffee.
Midnight sighed, giving a tired smile. "Morning, Akira. Did you sleep well?"
Akira giggled, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat at the table. "I dreamed of candy!" She paused, scrunching her face in thought. "But… I don't know why I wasn't allowed to have any…"
"You've been asking for candy all day yesterday," Midnight chuckled, trying to hide the weariness in her voice. "But, remember? I said no candy before dinner."
Akira pouted, crossing her tiny arms. "That's boring! Can I have candy for breakfast then?"
Midnight rolled her eyes but smirked. "Absolutely not."
The day off continued in a similar fashion, with Akira bouncing around, insisting on games, snacks, and even asking to play with Midnight's costume. By the time evening rolled around, Midnight had answered enough questions to write a novel titled The Never-Ending Questions of a Six-Year-Old Akira Gojo.
As night fell, Midnight tucked Akira into bed, ruffling her hair with an affectionate sigh. "Alright, kiddo. Get some rest, okay?"
"Okay, 'night, Midnight!" Akira beamed, snuggling under the covers.
Midnight watched as Akira's eyes slowly drifted shut. She gently closed the door, relieved to finally have some quiet.
The next morning, Midnight opened the door to Akira's room, fully prepared for another day of babysitting. But the scene she found stopped her in her tracks.
There, sitting up in bed and looking entirely bewildered, was Akira in her regular form, her familiar icy confidence replaced by confusion. She raised a brow as she looked at Midnight.
"What... exactly happened?" Akira asked, her voice back to its usual calm.
Midnight blinked, half in shock and half relieved. "You don't remember?"
Akira rubbed her forehead, frowning. "I remember... a lot of questions, something about candy... wait, was I... a kid?"
Midnight chuckled, her exhaustion from the day before bubbling up as laughter. "Oh, yes. And you were the most annoyingly adorable six-year-old."
Akira groaned, holding her head. "Please tell me I didn't ask for candy for breakfast."
Midnight smirked. "Oh, you did. Among about a million other things."
Akira covered her face, muttering, "I'm never letting you babysit me again."
I sigh and say with a smile, "I appreciate the help Midnight-sensei. You babysitted the honored one."
"Hey don't be to cocky." She hit my head slightly and we both broke into laughter.
I still didn't got my powers back. I will get them by the way. I lied to Midnight. It was a because I gained my domain expansion back....
As the students filtered out of the classroom, Akira—who temporarily lost her powers—was feeling a mix of excitement and residual weakness from her transformation. She had been navigating the hallways with her friends when suddenly, Bakugo came barreling past, his typical fiery energy radiating off him.
"Move it, icy-hot!" Bakugo shouted, aiming for Todoroki, who stood casually by the door. Before Todoroki could react, Bakugo shoved him aside, sending him tumbling right into....me.
"Whoa—!" I barely had time to brace myself as Todoroki collided with her, their bodies hitting the wall with a soft thud. In the chaos, their faces ended up inches apart, I was pinned against the wall with Todoroki leaning over me.
"Uh…" Todoroki's eyes widened as he realized the position they were in. "Sorry, Gojo-San!"
I maintained my composure. "It's fine! Just… maybe don't let Bakugo shove you next time?" I flashed him a teasing smile hiding the blush. Yeah, I am the strongest but this is a little....
"I wasn't trying to—" Todoroki started, but the situation had turned unexpectedly awkward, and the heat of their proximity made it even more intense.
Mina stepped forward, her grin wide and playful. "Wow, you two really got close there! Is this a new training technique?"
"Yeah! It looked like you were about to start a romantic scene!" Uraraka added, giggling.
Akira rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress a smirk. "Please, it was just a tripping incident. You guys are blowing this way out of proportion."
"Aw, come on, don't get all shy now!" Kirishima said with a chuckle, his usual enthusiasm shining through.
"Seriously, it was kind of cool," Kaminari chimed in, winking at Todoroki. "Who knew you had such smooth moves?"
"Okay, okay! Let's not make it weird," Kirishima interjected, trying to reign in the playful banter. "They just tripped, that's all."
"Right! I mean, no big deal, just an accidental wall slam," Jiro added with a teasing smirk.
Akira crossed her arms, her expression playful yet serious. "It's not like I wanted to be pinned against the wall. If I had my powers, I would've dodged it."
Mineta,well-being resist, leaned in with a cheky grin. "You can get a ro—"
Kirishima quickly covered Mineta's mouth. "Not in front of everyone, dude! Keep it respectful!"
Momo and Tsuyu, standing slightly behind, exchanged amused glances, both blushing a bit at the playful atmosphere. "They do make an interesting pair," Momo whispered, her cheeks pink.
"Tch", It was Bakugo.
"Yeah, I guess they do," Tsuyu replied, her eyes wide. "But maybe we should change the topic?"
"Good idea," Akira said, trying to feign annoyance while suppressing a smile.
And then, a certain teacher came into the room. Everyone quickly went silent.
I frowned at the sight of Aizawa being completely encased in bandages. Even if it was an amusing sight to see, I felt bad that I wasn't there. No one could've gotten hurt if I was there.
"Shouldn't you be resting, Aizawa-sensei?" queried Asui, as she placed a finger over her chin.
"My well being is irrelevant," he answered, tiredly. "What's more important is that your fight isn't over yet."
He looked up at the class. "The U.A. sports festival is about to start."
Dead silence.
"Yes!" "Ugh, why would you scare us like that?!"
The U.A. sports festival. An event that gets held up annually, and all of the students at U.A. get to participate in it.
"Our sports festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic games," Aizawa explained, "but then Quirks started appearing. Now the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. If anyone cares about competition, there's only one tournament that matters. U.A. sports festival."
Niceeee. So...I can show off. But I will hold back.
°°°°°
After about one more class the school day had ended and when the students of class 1-A were trying to leave, there was a crowd of students in the way. Bakugou walked in-front to the door and said arrogantly "Scouting out the enemy, small fry. We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack. There is no point in doing that. Out of my way, extras." Most students in class-A started to feel embarrassed from the way Bakugou was acting.
Another purple haired kid scooched his way to the front of the crowd and said "Just because you initially entered the hero course, doesn't mean you can't be taken out. If you're not careful, i'll sweep you from under your feet."
As soon as the purple-haired kid, Shinso, made his remark, the hallway grew tense. Before Bakugou could explode with a retort, Akira Gojo stepped in, her laid-back grin lighting up the room as she approached Shinso with an air of calm confidence.
"Whoa there," Akira chuckled, sizing up Shinso with a relaxed but sharp gaze. "I like the confidence, kid. But remember, there's only room for one at the top," she added, her voice smooth yet unwavering. She placed a hand on her hip and winked. "And in case you don't know—I'm the strongest."
The other students watched, intrigued by the subtle authority in her words. Turning to Bakugou, she gave him a light nudge, smirking. "And Bakugou, trust me, a bit of humility goes a long way. People might just step aside if you ask them nicely."
Bakugou scowled, crossing his arms and muttering, "Hmph, whatever, I don't need socializing tips from you."
Akira laughed, unfazed. "Suit yourself." She turned to the crowd, raising her hand as if to part the sea. "But hey, let's clear a path, folks. We heroes-in-training have better things to do than squabble in the hallway, right?"
Slowly, the students parted, some chuckling as Class 1-A walked through, the tension dissolved under Akira's easygoing but undeniable authority.