The sound of his alarm woke Reiji at 6:30 in the morning.
The previous night had ended much later than would have been advisable for any normal student.
After leaving the illegal parking lot in Udagawa, he went straight ho, avoiding drawing attention, drafted a summary report for the Public Safety Commission, and spent several more minutes ntally organizing everything he had seen during the mission.
Mainly, he realized that Tomura Shigaraki had already begun moving in the shadows. It was valuable information, but he had no other certainty beyond that.
He tried to devise a plan for how to deal with him in his very first appearance, to take him down before the world even knew him. It was feasible, and with his strength, he believed he could do it. In any case, considering that his first attack would be on the entire Class 1-A, preparing them for that would also be ideal.
So he prepared a minimal plan, based on many assumptions, for how to help his classmates improve in the shortest possible ti.
This ant he barely got two hours of sleep.
For most people, that would have ant waking up with a headache, heavy muscles, and a desperate need to go back to bed.
In his case, the situation was different.
His regeneration did much more than heal wounds. It wasn't perfect, and he still needed sleep, but the difference compared to an ordinary person was considerable.
He turned off the alarm before it went off a second ti and sat for a few seconds on the edge of the bed. Through the window, the sky was still tinged with the muted colors of dawn.
Musutafu was just beginning to wake up, as was he.
After showering and getting dressed, he went downstairs to the kitchen.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the entire ground floor.
Himiko was already awake; she always woke up early for U.A., even more so than Reiji, who didn't really need that much sleep.
He found her sitting by the kitchen table, checking sothing on her phone while holding a mug. She was already wearing her U.A. uniform and her hair was tied back with a maroon ribbon.
"We're barely early..."
The remark ca without her even looking up from her screen.
Reiji opened one of the cupboards and took out a box of cereal.
"Good morning to you too."
"Good morning."
Himiko finally looked up.
"That doesn't change the fact that you should wake up earlier."
"It's not that bad."
She let out a small noise of disapproval. There was still a little over an hour before her classes, but public transportation wasn't always punctual.
"You always say the sa thing."
"Because it's always true."
While they were talking, Reiji started making breakfast. Himiko rested an arm on the table and watched him for a few seconds.
"Did you get used to it quickly?"
"To what?"
"To U.A."
The question ca out much more naturally than any other conversation they'd had recently.
"I've only been here a day, you know?" Reiji sat down across from her.
"Yeah, but you've already t your classmates, the teachers, and all that." Himiko took a sip of coffee before continuing. "It took much longer to adjust when I was in the general education course. Everyone was a stranger, but they were all very studious. The hero course wasn't as complicated."
Reiji thought about it briefly.
The truth was, it was difficult for him to answer sothing like that. He'd been through too many absurd situations to feel intimidated by a new school, even if it was the most prestigious hero academy in the country.
Besides, he'd been to U.A. so many tis long before becoming a student that he didn't feel out of place.
"I guess it was okay."
"That sounds pretty boring."
"Well, actually, it was pretty noisy."
She chuckled.
"I believe that one. Hero courses are usually like that."
"But overall, everyone was nice. I think I talked to most of them..."
The conversation continued smoothly as they ate breakfast. They talked about teachers, the different courses, and so differences between the classes they'd each experienced.
It wasn't a particularly deep conversation, but it didn't need to be.
"And the tests?" Himiko asked. "I heard Aizawa always gives tests on the first day, even expelling students without hesitation..."
"He did them."
"How did it go?"
Reiji took a mont to answer.
"Fine."
Himiko stared at him.
"What does 'fine' an?"
"I did well."
"Reiji."
"I ca in first."
The answer was so casual that she ended up blinking.
"First in the whole class?"
"Yes."
"And you say that like you just bought bread?"
"I don't see what's so strange about it. I also ca in first on the entrance exam."
Himiko let out a long sigh.
"You know that's not normal, right?"
"It depends on your perspective."
"Of course."
She shook her head, smiling. She was proud and content; it was sothing Reiji would do with her personality.
He had never been one to seek attention or care about competition. Even with Himiko, who was the one who forced him to bring out a much more extroverted side of himself, it was like that.
Finally, Himiko checked the ti on her phone and frowned.
"We have to leave soon."
"I know."
"I'm going to be late because of you."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"Because of ?"
"Because I'm standing here talking to you instead of getting ready."
"That sounds like a decision you made."
"No, it's your fault, and I think you owe for it." She stood up and took her empty mug to put it in the sink, under Reiji's perplexed gaze.
Why did she owe him sothing?
Before Himiko left the kitchen, she paused by the door.
"By the way,"
Reiji looked up.
"You're having lunch at the academy today, aren't you?"
"I think so."
"Then I'll save you a spot with your wonderful sister. You don't need to thank ."
Reiji thought for a few seconds.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea."
Himiko frowned at him.
"I'm not asking..."
Reiji just sighed inwardly.
"That ans yes."
"That's better."
Her smile lit up her face like the sun before she disappeared down the hall to finish getting ready.
The kitchen fell silent again.
Reiji looked at the remaining contents of his breakfast as he leaned back in his chair.
The tranquility of that morning contrasted sharply with the previous night.
Just hours before, he had been walking among criminals, observing illegal fights, and tracking the movents of soone who would one day beco one of the country's greatest threats.
Now he sat debating what he would do during lunch.
It was an absurd difference.
***
The classroom was beginning to fill with the usual morning bustle.
Barely a day had passed since the official start of classes, and yet several groups already seed to have ford naturally. So students were discussing the previous day's physical tests, others were arguing about the teachers, and a few were simply taking advantage of any excuse to get to know each other better.
The energy in the classroom was different from the first day. The initial tension was still there, but it had been partially replaced by a much more relaxed curiosity.
Reiji entered the classroom with his usual calm deanor.
He was wearing his uniform perfectly, although his hair still had that natural disarray that seed impossible to fix. His expression was relaxed, neither particularly serious nor especially friendly. He simply walked to his seat as if nothing were amiss.
Then several pairs of eyes turned toward him at the sa ti.
"There he is."
"He's here."
"We were just talking about you."
Reiji raised an eyebrow.
That was never a good sign.
His gaze swept across the room, and he quickly realized that the only empty seat was his, situated amidst several classmates who were now observing him with quite obvious interest.
He had arrived just a few minutes before class started. Just enough ti for practically everyone else to already be there, making him the last to arrive, almost the opposite of the previous day.
"I'm starting to suspect I should be worried," Reiji remarked as he placed his backpack next to his desk and sat down. "Should I be?"
"That depends."
Mina turned completely around in her seat to face him.
"If you were a normal person, I'd agree with you."
"So what am I?"
"The mysterious boy who ca in first."
"That sounds exaggerated and embarrassing."
From behind, Jiro imdiately chid in.
"Because it is."
A few chuckles rippled through the group.
Reiji rested an arm on the desk as he watched the conversation unfold before him.
The dynamic was curious.
Everyone spoke with the ease of soone who had known each other for months, as if being sociable were an optional but crucial requirent for being a hero.
"Besides," Mina continued. "Yesterday you disappeared as soon as classes ended. That doesn't help your mysterious boy image."
"I went ho, just like everyone else."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"He left with and a friend of his who's in Class 1-B," Camie casually ntioned next to Mina.
"Camie said that's true," Reiji added with a nod.
"Do you know anyone from Class 1-B?" lissa asked, turning slightly in her seat to join the conversation.
Unlike on the first day, she seed much more comfortable talking to everyone.
"Yes, Hitoshi Shinso. He was my classmate in middle school, and we've trained for years to get here."
"That explains why you move so well for soone who's just starting at U.A."
"Is that a complint?"
"It's an observation."
"Then it is a complint."
lissa blinked.
Then she smiled.
"I didn't an to."
"I know."
The conversation continued to flow quite naturally. Contrary to what many might expect, Reiji wasn't particularly talkative, but he also had no problem responding when soone started a conversation.
He simply avoided being the one to initiate it.
Sothing that, oddly enough, seed to generate even more curiosity.
"Now that I think about it..." Kaminari murmured. "I felt like I'd seen you before."
Reiji turned to look at him.
"Before U.A.?"
"Yes."
Denki frowned as he tried to rember.
Mina seed to think so too.
"Wait..."
Then her eyes widened slightly.
"I know!"
Several people looked at her.
"Do you rember last year's Sports Festival?"
So nodded.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kirishima asked.
"The blood girl!" Mina exclaid.
"The second-year!" lissa snapped her fingers imdiately.
"Himiko Toga!"
"Exactly!" Mina pointed directly at Reiji. "During her final battle, she transford into you."
There was a brief silence.
And then several pieces began to fall into place at once.
"That's right!" Sero said.
"Now I rember!"
"That's why she seed familiar," Kaminari added.
"I had the feeling I'd seen that face before." Momo observed Reiji with renewed interest. "Is Himiko Toga your sister?"
"Yes," Reiji replied matter-of-factly. It was surprising they hadn't noticed before, thinking only of the surna... Although her physical appearance, more specifically her hair color, already hinted at it.
"That explains a lot," Jiro comnted.
"Like what?" Reiji asked, just out of curiosity.
"The resemblance, for starters."
"And the Quirk," lissa added. "Well, part of the Quirk."
"And the fighting style," Kirishima said.
"Now that I think about it, she also moved incredibly well during the festival."
Reiji couldn't help but find the situation amusing. Now it seed that what he knew was thanks to Himiko and not the other way around. In any case, he wasn't interested in correcting that version of events.
"Also..." Kaminari interjected. "I think I also heard sothing about you in an incident with a villain a while back. Present Mic ntioned you quite a bit during the festival."
"Wait," Mina pointed at Reiji again. "That guy was you?"
For a second, the room fell silent.
"That was ," Reiji simply shrugged. "It was quite a while ago, it's not important anymore."
The reaction was imdiate.
"So it was you after all?!"
"Why didn't anyone know?"
"Because no one asked before," he replied, though considering it had even been on international television, he also found it sowhat surprising that they hadn't made the connection earlier...
This sparked further conversation among several students.
anwhile, a simring burst of irritation erupted in another part of the room.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Reiji barely needed to observe him for a mont to realize.
Jaw clenched. Fingers curling slightly. Gaze fixed on the desk. Eyes narrowed, hidden by the shadow of his hair.
It didn't take a genius to understand what was happening.
The conversation had veered dangerously close to the sludge villain incident.
And curiously, no one had ntioned the na of the other person involved.
Katsuki Bakugo.
'He's holding back,' Reiji noticed instantly. 'It seems he doesn't want to be associated with the figure of the victim...'
The observation was imdiate.
Normally, he would have exploded by now.
But he probably understood that drawing attention to the matter would only make things worse.
Reiji decided to say nothing.
There was no need.
He continued listening while the others kept talking.
"So your sister is quite famous," lissa remarked.
"More than she'd like to admit," Reiji replied.
"And do you two get along?" Mina asked, even though the answer was sowhat obvious.
"Otherwise, she wouldn't have used my image during the confrontation."
"That answer was suspiciously sarcastic."
"Because it's a suspiciously obvious question."
"That's also true."
Several laughs echoed through the classroom again.
"Anyway," Kirishima comnted. "No wonder you seed familiar. Between the festival and the villain incident, I'd seen you before without realizing it."
"That ans you were technically already famous before we even started," Kaminari added.
"Great," Reiji muttered. "Just what I wanted to avoid."
"Too late for that," Mina said. "You ca in first on the first day. There's no way out now."
"Maybe I'll turn invisible."
"You can't steal my Quirk!" Toru chid in from a little further away.
"You're right."
Laughter erupted again in the classroom.
And it was precisely at that mont that the door burst open.
BAM!
"I'M JUST WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!!"
The voice echoed throughout the classroom.
Instantly, all eyes turned toward the entrance.
All Might appeared with a huge grin and an exaggeratedly heroic pose, as if he'd just landed in the middle of a national ergency rather than walking into a classroom.
The energy in the room shifted instantly.
Excitent rippled through the classroom like a wave.
"I'M HERE!"
Several students stood up almost instinctively.
Even those who had tried to remain calm seed impressed.
"AND TODAY I'LL LEAD YOUR FIRST TEAM MATCH TRAINING!"
The response was imdiate.
Exclamations. Celebrations. Anticipation.
Even Bakugo seed more interested in this than in any previous conversation.
Reiji, for his part, simply observed the Symbol of Peace.
'First ti I've seen him this close.'
It was impossible to deny the charisma he exuded. Even fully understanding his true state, it was still clear why millions of people trusted him.
All Might filled the room simply by being there.
'I should learn sothing from the greatest hero there is.'
***
Well, I wanted to talk to you all for a mont, sothing I haven't done lately. The truth is, I have two weeks of exams, so between studying, writing, and my own things, I forget to leave ssages and stuff.
I just want to say that I appreciate the growing support the story is receiving; it truly gives the energy to keep writing more than you can imagine. I read most of the comnts and even try to reply, but so are dangerously close to what will happen in the future, so I ignore them, hahaha.
Anyway, the last thing I want to say is that I'm not very good at scenes with many characters, and I'm trying to find a balance. There will be lighter chapters coming because of this, to set up the next scene.
For now, I'm not going to abruptly break canon in the introduction of the characters and their dynamics, but I already have so things planned that will definitely mark a turning point. I just ask for your patience.
And if you like it, leave your Power Stones to unlock the additional chapters, or if you don't want to wait, you can support and get more than 5 additional chapters.
Support the project for just $2 USD. → [patreon/MisterCreator]
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