"You didn't expel anyone this ti?"
The surprise in Nezu's voice broke the office's tranquility as he reviewed the report Aizawa had just submitted on Class 1-A. Seated behind his enormous desk, barely visible above the mountain of accumulated docunts, the principal glanced once more at the student list before looking up at the teacher.
What was striking wasn't the nas at the top of the list.
Reiji Toga.
lissa Shield.
Katsuki Bakugou.
Shoto Todoroki.
Four students who already stood out significantly from the rest.
But what was truly remarkable was that all twenty were still present.
None had been expelled.
A situation so strange it was almost absurd considering Aizawa's track record as a teacher.
The hero of the headbands remained seated at his desk with his arms crossed and his usual weary expression.
"Everyone showed enough potential to remain in the course. Even Minoru Mineta, who finished last in the rankings, displayed better overall aptitude than so students from previous classes who went on to graduate. I saw no reason to expel anyone."
Nezu smiled slightly as he closed the report.
That was an excellent sign.
He knew Aizawa's standards perfectly. If soone remained in his class, it was because they truly deserved to be there.
"So it seems we have an exceptional generation."
The principal's smile widened slightly.
"Their profiles are extrely different from one another, and yet they seem to have ford connections quite quickly. That doesn't usually happen on the first day."
"That's true."
Aizawa rested an arm on the armrest of his chair.
"There are so conflicting personalities, but also a lot of initiative. The presence of certain students helped establish a competitive pace from the start. Especially Reiji Toga; his strength, even without a Quirk, had a positive effect on the rest, increasing their effort."
"Reiji Toga?"
Vlad King's voice imdiately rang out from across the office.
The horoom teacher of Class 1-B had remained relatively quiet until that mont, reviewing so of his own docunts. However, upon hearing that na, he looked up almost instantly.
"The boy with the Blood Quirk?"
"Exactly."
Nezu nodded.
And that was enough to make Vlad frown slightly.
From the mont he saw the boy's characteristics during the entrance exam, even with all the theatrics they put on, he thought that he would inevitably be his teacher.
Because if there was a teacher whose profile naturally matched Reiji Toga's Quirk...
It was Vlad King. They both shared a very similar Quirk, and he could offer exceptional help.
Not only because of the nature of his Quirk, but also because of how he needed to use it.
Control.
Precision.
Versatility.
"To be honest, I thought he'd be in my class."
The remark was direct.
Nezu placed his hands on the desk.
"I figured."
"So you knew I'd be surprised to see him in Class 1-A?"
"Yes."
The answer ca without hesitation.
That made Vlad narrow his eyes slightly, a hint of annoyance on his face.
"I don't recall being involved in that decision."
The office fell silent for a few seconds.
Aizawa observed the scene without intervening.
Nezu, on the other hand, continued smiling with complete composure.
"We considered several possibilities before making a decision."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Vlad's voice remained professional.
But his annoyance was becoming evident.
He wasn't angry that Reiji had ended up in Class 1-A.
He was angry that no one had thought it necessary to consult him.
"His Quirk is practically an advanced variant of mine," the Class B teacher emphasized.
"That's precisely why he ended up where he is," Nezu replied. "I thought that placing him with you could create an unintentional bias."
Vlad's expression hardened.
"A bias?"
"Implicit favoritism."
Nezu's smile remained unchanged.
"You share too many similarities. There was a possibility that you would dedicate more attention to a student whose developnt you understand better than the rest."
The ensuing silence was far less comfortable.
Aizawa didn't even offer his opinion on the matter.
Vlad slowly placed the report on the table.
His annoyance was already visible.
That explanation directly attacked one of the things he valued most as a teacher:
His impartiality and ethics.
"Do you think I'm incapable of treating my students fairly?"
"I believe you're one of the best teachers at this academy," Nezu replied imdiately. "That's precisely why I also know your strengths."
The headmaster swiveled his chair slightly.
"Your Quirk requires constant control. Strategy. Adaptability," he said, lifting the toes of his small paws. "Your teaching style reflects exactly that, tailored to profiles that you understand better than anyone else."
He pointed to so nas on the report.
"Hitoshi Shinso"
"Ibara Shiozaki"
"Kosei Tsuburaba"
"Neito Monoma"
"And several more."
Nezu ran his fingers over the list.
"Most of your students possess Quirks that require precision, creativity, or advanced technical application. They are users who need to learn how to exploit complex tools."
Then he picked up the report for Class 1-A.
"On the other hand, Aizawa tends to work best with students who possess enormous explosive potential but lack sufficient experience to use it properly."
His fingers moved over other nas.
"Katsuki Bakugo"
"Shoto Todoroki"
"Ejiro Kirishima"
"lissa Shield"
And finally.
"Reiji Toga"
Vlad remained silent.
Nezu took the opportunity to continue.
"With that explanation alone, I would normally have finished you off," the principal admitted bluntly. "But the second Quirk completely changes the equation."
Now even Aizawa looked up.
"Regeneration removes many of the natural limitations of his blood ability. He can afford to make mistakes that other similar users could never afford. It makes him an extrely aggressive fighter, capable of taking advantage of direct combat in unconventional ways."
Nezu closed both reports.
"He needs to learn to control two abilities that perfectly complent each other. Not just one."
The tension in the air lessened slightly.
It didn't disappear.
But it lessened.
"Aizawa can provide the tactical analysis needed to develop that direct fighting style we saw during the entrance exam."
Vlad clicked his tongue.
"Tsk."
He didn't seem entirely convinced.
But he didn't have any solid argunts to continue the discussion either.
"Anyway, Class 1-B isn't far behind."
Vlad King took his own report and handed it to Nezu.
"The results were much better than I expected. The most striking case was Shinso. His Quirk doesn't give him any physical advantage, and yet he still finished third in the overall rankings."
Nezu took the docunt and began reviewing it.
1. Juzo Koneuki
2. Itsuka Kendo
3. Hitoshi Shinso
4. Jurota Shishida
5. Ibara Shiozaki
6. Setsuna Tokage
7. Shihai Kuroiro
8. Mashirao Ojiro
9. Sen Kaibara
10. Togaru Kamakiri
11. Tetsutetsu
12. Hiryu Rin
13. Kosei Tsuburaba
14. Yosetsu Awase
15. Yui Kodai
16. Kinoko Komori
17. Nirengeki Shoda
18. Fukidashi Manga
19. Neito Monoma
20. Reiko Yanagi
The director read each line carefully, each student, in addition to their classification, had their own page of more detailed individual analysis.
He compared statistics.
Physical results.
Personality assessnts.
Potential Strengths
Weaknesses
Generally speaking, Class 1-A possessed a higher initial power ceiling. However, Class 1-B displayed a greater concentration of technical and strategic Quirks.
Both groups seed to complent each other surprisingly well.
Finally, Nezu closed the reports and jumped down from his chair.
"Good."
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"I think we can say that this year has started better than expected."
Aizawa and Vlad watched him.
"We have promising students. Capable teachers. And we also have All Might to support them during their training."
The principal walked to one of the office windows.
From there, a large part of the U.A. campus could be seen, illuminated by the city lights.
"If we do our job well, this generation will produce so of the greatest heroes Japan has ever seen."
"I hope so," Aizawa replied as he stood up.
"It'll be interesting to see," Vlad added before heading for the exit.
As they both left the office, silence returned once more.
Nezu stood observing the vast campus for several seconds.
The classrooms.
The dormitories.
The training fields.
Everything was calm.
"This will be a very interesting year for U.A.," he murmured as a small smile appeared on his face.
He still held a leaf in his small paws.
The best student of this generation, and yet, the most mysterious.
"Reiji Toga." Next to his na, an important note. "My Quirk cannot erase his powers."
***
It was barely 2:24 p.m. when Reiji arrived ho. As expected, no one was waiting for him on the other side of the door. The trip ho had been uneventful; After leaving the academy, he had shared the train with Shinso and Camie for several stops, occasionally chatting about trivial matters until they each went their separate ways.
"Today it's ti to cook..."
The words escaped his lips with a sigh as he placed his backpack on a nearby chair.
His life of the past year had beco strangely normal. He went to classes, trained, studied, returned ho, and repeated the routine the next day. Occasionally, he broke the routine by training with Himiko, Shinso, or Izuku, and by visiting i.
However, no matter how hard he tried to adapt to this tranquility, a part of him remained vigilant at all tis. It was a feeling difficult to ignore, a constant pressure in the back of his mind that reminded him that this was only a temporary pause.
Sooner or later, his phone would ring again. A new mission would arrive. A new order. A new problem to solve.
And honestly, he didn't expect it to take too long.
After all, his break only existed because he hadn't officially enrolled at U.A. yet.
Once classes started, he'd have to go back to acting regularly. That was the plan: to keep the dia attention down until she got into U.A., and once inside, return to work in a different way, but return nonetheless.
With those thoughts in mind, he headed to the kitchen. The refrigerator was half empty, though it still contained enough to whip up sothing decent. Rice, eggs, tofu, and a bag of chopped vegetables sat on the shelves. Nothing particularly appetizing, but he didn't need more.
He put the rice in the rice cooker and turned it on before opening one of the windows to let in the cool afternoon air.
The breeze slowly drifted through the house as the distant sounds of the city filtered in from outside. Vehicles driving along the avenues, scattered conversations among pedestrians, and the occasional rumble of a train passing through so part of Musutafu.
Citizens walked the streets convinced that the hero system was unbreakable, unaware that so of the most important events of the coming years were drawing ever closer.
And Reiji knew it.
That's precisely why he found it so hard to relax.
As the water began to boil, he decided to use the ti to change his clothes. He went to his room, left his uniform on a chair, and began to put on more comfortable clothes. However, before he finished, a familiar sound imdiately caught his attention.
Hush.
His gaze fell toward the desk.
Hush.
'They didn't wait a single day...'
He walked to the desk and knelt in front of one of the lower drawers. With a precise movent, he slid open the hidden false bottom. Beneath it lay the sealed telephone of the Public Safety Commission. Beside it rested the notebook where, during his early years, he had recorded everything he rembered of the original story.
He picked up his phone and checked the ssage.
An underground fight ring was operating suspiciously.
Location: an abandoned parking lot in a suburban district.
Raid scheduled for midnight.
A smile escaped his lips.
Try as he might to deny it, he actually enjoyed this kind of work. It was ironic when he stopped to think about it. In his previous life, he'd spent practically his entire existence locked away in experintal facilities, where every minute was controlled by soone else.
Now, however, his responsibilities consisted of traversing entire cities, infiltrating unknown places, and discovering corners he probably would never have visited otherwise.
The difference between the two lives was enormous.
And yet, at the sa ti, it wasn't so much.
He was still receiving orders, still being used by a higher organization.
A re tool.
Only the person holding the handle had changed.
'Right after I officially beco a student, they want to compromise my identity...'
He shook his head slightly as he turned off the device.
'Who can understand them?'
He placed the phone on the bed and turned his attention to his notebook. There were still many hours until midnight. More than enough ti to review important information and organize his thoughts.
He opened several pages and began reading old notes, dates, events, and observations he had recorded over the years. Without that knowledge, navigating that world would have been just as uncertain as for anyone else.
'Aoyama isn't in Class A...'
His eyes scanned another page.
'He's not in Class B either.'
His brow furrowed slowly.
It still bothered him.
Because if Aoyama wasn't in his original position within the story, then one of the most important pieces on the board had disappeared. In the tiline he rembered, he had served as a source of information for All For One. His existence explained nurous moves by the League of Villains and helped to understand how certain plans had turned out so precisely.
But now he wasn't there.
And that left only two possibilities.
Either All For One had completely lost that advantage.
Or soone else had taken his place.
'If there's another spy, I have no idea who it could be.'
That was precisely the problem. The more events changed, the less value the notebook held, and after 15 years since its creation, much of the information was just a catalog of characters.
The research related to the evolutionary drug was the most obvious example.
Reiji partially closed the notebook as he ntally reviewed the upcoming major events. The invasion of the U.S.J. and the Sports Festival were the closest. The festival was still to be held in about two months, as its date remained relatively fixed. The U.S.J. invasion, on the other hand, would have to happen soti in between.
At least according to the original story.
Because at this point, he wasn't even sure he could call it that anymore.
It was impossible to predict what would happen next. Perhaps he had averted a catastrophe. Perhaps he had accelerated an even worse one. Maybe Tomura Shigaraki was already following a completely different path than the one he rembered.
The sound of the rice cooker signaling that the food was ready pulled him from his thoughts.
Reiji slowly looked up.
If there was one thing he was absolutely certain of, it was that there was no point in waiting for a real vacation anymore. The ti for rest was over.
If he wanted to be ready for what was coming, he needed to keep moving forward, keep gathering information, and keep acting before events started to accelerate.
'I just have to prepare for the worst...'
***
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