Chapter 12: Class rep
...
The hero course included the regular, boring classes you'd expect not to have while training to be heroes. But nope—there it was: English class in the mornings.
And after Aizawa-sensei dropped the bomb about the expulsion threat, I still felt a little jittery about English class in the morning.
Sure, it was English, and it's not that speaking it's hard for me, but Present Mic's grammar drills? Yeah, those were enough to fry anyone's brain circuits… were a whole other level of suffering.
But hey, I'd made it into U.A…. guess that meant I had to get used to all these "academic" classes too.
When I walked into class on day two, I saw Ojiro sitting right in front of me. Super relaxed as always, he turned back, smiled and gave me a little nod.
"Good to see you again, Kaminari," he said in that easygoing tone of his.
"Ojiro! Good to see you too, man." I grinned, genuinely glad to see him. Seriously, this guy was like… super relaxed, you know? Even the way he greeted you made him seem like the most laid-back person on the planet.
Right at that moment, Ojiro smiled that smile that Denki found so amusing.
Before we could talk more, Present Mic burst into the room, and Ojiro turned forward, leaning slightly in his seat. I also sat up straight out of respect, but suddenly I couldn't help noticing how Ojiro was sitting. I thought about how uncomfortable he must be—then I noticed his tail moving beneath his desk. Intrigued, I leaned over slightly, trying not to make it obvious, and saw it swaying peacefully back and forth through the gap between his seat and the backrest.
It was hypnotizing! Was he doing it on purpose, or was it some kind of reflex? I had so many questions! I couldn't look away, and from that moment on, I spent hours watching it instead of paying attention to the teachers' explanations…
Yep, Ojiro's tail started becoming a total distraction in every class. I even started wondering if the skin on his tail was as soft as it looked and if Ojiro ever combed those little hairs that always looked so neat at the tip. Weird questions, I know, but they distracted me way more than they should have.
By the third day, after an especially boring English class, Ojiro turned around and suddenly asked:
"Did you manage to understand Present Mic's exercises today?"
"Uh…" I stammered, realizing I'd been watching his tail again instead of actually listening to the class. Finally, I just admitted it, laughing awkwardly. "Not really."
As I said it, I noticed his tail was now resting lazily on his shoulder like a furry shoulder pad.
Sometimes I don't even know why we keep studying English. It's not like we're all going to need it in the future, right? There are so many pro hero agencies in Japan; it's not like we have to go to the U.S. And even if I had the chance to go, there's no way I would. Facing my dad over there would be a total nightmare. Nope, not happening.
Anyway, the truth is I speak English pretty well, since I was born and lived in the U.S. until I was seven. But Present Mic's exercises are a disaster for me. Speaking and understanding it is fine, but writing, and all that grammar stuff… horrible. I make mistakes in Japanese too!
With Ojiro, we'd barely said a word to each other during these three days, whether in class or in the dorms—just the necessary stuff, you know? We'd greet each other in the morning, and that was it.
In fact, Ojiro would always greet me warmly when he arrived, and of course, I'd greet him back before going to talk to Ashido, Kirishima, or even Jiro.
Even in groups, I, being more outgoing, usually did most of the talking, but Ojiro would stay quiet and reserved. Yeah, Ojiro was way too calm and quiet for me, who was more used to the energetic personalities of Ashido and Kirishima.
That's why I'd usually talk more with Ashido, Kirishima, or even Jiro. Ojiro was so quiet and relaxed that sometimes I didn't know how to talk to him. At least with Jiro, even though she teased me, we'd end up talking about things, you know?
"No problem," Ojiro said politely. "I'll ask Yaoyorozu. She probably managed to understand and do the exercises. She always does."
'Brilliant, Denki!' I mentally slapped my forehead.
'You're acting like you got shocked with thousands of volts today,' I thought, feeling like a fool. It was the second time Ojiro tried to have a normal conversation, and my responses made me sound like some kind of idiot or jerk instead of a normal person.
"True," I admitted, a little embarrassed. "It'd be great if she could help you out. She's obviously the best in the class."
It was true. Only three days in, and we all knew that Yaoyorozu was the smartest and always had the right answer. She always participated in every class, gave perfect answers, added useful information, and even explained things when most of us didn't understand something.
Super cute, super smart… it's impossible not to notice her. Seriously, how many girls have that mix of beauty and brains? Plus, she literally had the body of a supermodel. She'd be my platonic crush; I didn't stand a chance. And yeah, I could accept that—I wasn't like Mineta, who still fantasized about dating her… in pretty graphic detail when he described it. But I couldn't blame the little guy—I had my own dreams about her too, I just didn't talk about them as openly as he did.
Couldn't help admiring the little guy for not being afraid to show off his inner perv.
"If I manage to understand it, I'll try to help you too," Ojiro promised, always so polite, with that funny smile that made his eyes squint. He was a cool guy, really. And his smile was hilarious. I could see why Hagakure got along with him so well, even though he was kind of a man of few words and a little too calm for my taste.
"Oh! Sure, yeah, great. "Thanks, man! Appreciate it" I replied, smiling like a goof. His help would really come in handy, though, sure, it'd be even better if Yaoyorozu were the one giving me a private class… that'd be a dream come true. Though I didn't mention that part, I'd be so happy if Yaoyorozu herself helped me out, or even gave me private lessons… Mineta would die of envy.
Ojiro ended the conversation and turned to face forward. Then I saw Jiro approaching Yaoyorozu, probably because she had the same problem as Ojiro with the exercises.
As for me, I decided to head to the cafeteria with Kirishima and Sero. I was starving, so I hurried to the cafeteria for lunch. I loved this place since it offered literally gourmet food at super low prices.
Yep, the U.A. cafeteria is paradise-amazing food at crazy low prices. They literally serve gourmet food... Gourmet food! Naturally all of this is mostly attributed to the support of Lunch Rush.
We finished eating and headed back to the classroom, each to our assigned seat, waiting for Aizawa-sensei to arrive for the next class.
While we waited, I decided to seize the chance to get closer to Yaoyorozu. Ojiro and Jiro were already talking to her about the exercises, so I casually joined in, pretending I was just chatting with Sero and Mineta, who were listening in with interest. We joined the group, and soon after, Tokoyami joined us too. I thought about inviting Todoroki, but the guy was in his own world, looking all serious, like he wasn't interested in talking to anyone. Didn't want him throwing ice at me or anything.
So in the end, I stayed with Mineta, Sero, and Tokoyami, joining Ojiro, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu's conversation. Finally… I was talking to the lovely Yaoyorozu! Yes, I did it! I'd found the perfect excuse to get closer. Talking about English had never made me so happy. Sure, maybe I was horrible at grammar and those annoying exercises, but in terms of speaking, I was the best in class. Too bad it didn't earn me any extra points or anything like that. I hated written exams.
However, that wasn't important. I actually succeeded! And now I am currently talking to the attractive girl with the supermodel's body—my objective from the beginning accomplished with a 100% success rate. "Objective secured!" as Annihilator would say in Steel Nemesis.
We were in the middle of a conversation when Aizawa-sensei came in, ruining my moment with Yaoyorozu…
After that, we all settled down and took our seats. Aizawa started by congratulating us on our great work in yesterday's training with All Might. Apparently, he had seen the videos and results of each team.
Yep, yesterday afternoon was the combat training. It was one of the most intense moments of the day. All Might divided us into teams of two playing villains or heroes, and I ended up with Jiro being heroes while that lucky Mineta ended up with Yaoyorozu being villains. To make matters worse we had to face them. We did pretty well... even though we lost.
Anyway, Aizawa also told Bakugo he had talent but needed to stop acting like a child and behave more like the adult he now was. To everyone's surprise, Bakugo accepted this pretty easily.
As for Midoriya, well, Aizawa wasn't too surprised that the green-haired guy broke his arm again to win, and he gave him some harsh advice, saying he needed to try harder and couldn't keep using the excuse that he couldn't control his quirk. But at least he told him that if he learned to control it, he'd go far, which was high praise coming from him.
After that, he said something, but I wasn't paying much attention; all I got was that we were voting for something, and that I could write my own name down. So without thinking too hard, I wrote mine and crossed my fingers.
When they finished counting the votes, Midoriya won with Yaoyorozu in second place. And that's when it finally hit me that we'd been voting for class reps!
Well, I didn't win, but honestly, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu are way better class rep material than I'll ever be. I mean, they actually pay attention in class.
And honestly, I didn't mind not winning; Midoriya and Yaoyorozu seem like good people, and I know they'll do a great job.
So all in all, a solid day.