"Could it be..." Toru rolled up her sleeve and discreetly pointed toward the outdoor terrace. "...Isn't that Reiji?"
The conversations around the table gradually died away as several glances followed the direction she indicated. All the girls from Class 1-A were having lunch together, an unexpected gathering prompted by the extroverted voice of Mina Ashido.
When the girls' gazes reached the spot where Toru's sleeve pointed, they saw Reiji sitting at a secluded table.
But he wasn't alone.
To his right sat a blonde girl with her hair styled in two slightly ssy buns. Her amber eyes stood out even from a distance, shining with a restless intensity as she talked nonstop.
She had small, delicate features, accompanied by a lively smile that constantly shifted between amusent, curiosity, and mischief.
The girl remained almost glued to Reiji. She leaned on his shoulder from ti to ti, invading his personal space with complete ease.
Even from a distance, it was clear that there was an unusual closeness and trust between them.
"She's his sister," Mina was the first to recognize her. "Himiko Toga."
Several of them imdiately recalled their conversation from that morning.
"Now that I see her, they do look alike," Uraraka comnted. "They have so similar features, and she's quite pretty."
"Especially the hair," Tsuyu added. "And the shape of her face."
Their attention soon shifted to the other person sitting next to them.
A girl with very long blue hair sat on the other side of Reiji. Her hair cascaded down the back of the chair and continued several centiters beyond, moving gently in the breeze.
She had a delicate and harmonious face, frad by large, curious blue eyes and a smile that appeared constantly as she spoke.
What stood out most, however, was her energy. She constantly moved her hands, leaning forward whenever sothing interested her and punctuating her stories with such exaggerated gestures.
Even sitting down, she seed incapable of staying still for more than a few seconds.
Camie narrowed her eyes.
"Wait..." She continued observing for a few more seconds. "She seems familiar, but I can't rember."
Now several of them looked again.
Momo was the one who recognized her the fastest.
"I think so."
"Wasn't she also part of the previous sports festival?"
"What was her na?" Pony asked.
"Nejire..." lissa murmured.
"Nejire Hado," Jiro finally added.
That caused a brief silence. They understood that Reiji could have lunch with his sister; it was natural, but with Nejire Hado, it didn't seem to be the sa. They also seed to trust each other, because Nejire constantly invaded their personal space without any problem.
"Why is she having lunch with him?" Jiro asked.
"Maybe she knows his sister," Uraraka suggested.
"That would make sense."
"It's the most logical explanation," Tsuyu agreed.
"What if she's his girlfriend?"
The question ca out so quickly that several girls imdiately turned to Mina.
"What?!"
"What does 'Hanayo' (girlfriend) an?" Pony didn't share the others' excitent. Not understanding the aning of the word in Japanese, she was still reviewing the language.
"Hmm... It ans when two people are a couple, they love each other, they care for each other, they kiss, and..."
"Okay, she gets it," lissa interrupted Mina after the pink-haired girl's detailed explanation.
"What?!" Now it was Pony's turn to finally react.
"Just saying!" Mina defended herself, continuing the conversation. "He's handso, quiet, mysterious, and his sister is in her class—it makes sense!"
"That escalated way too fast," Jiro comnted.
"Wow," lissa added.
"We don't even know if they've known each other before."
"They're having lunch together, and she seems to be invading his personal space a lot," Mina said. "That usually implies they know each other."
"Great deduction," Jiro muttered, rolling her eyes. From her point of view, until there was sothing more explicit, like holding hands, it didn't really an anything. "I think you shouldn't invade her personal space without her consent."
"Good idea!" Mina defended herself, much to Jiro's bewildernt. "I'll ask her in class!"
The other girls reacted with perplexity to such a suggestion, with Camie being the only one who actually supported it. Out of sheer curiosity.
***
In contrast, the boys' table was radically different.
"WHY?!" Mineta's shout echoed around the table as he dramatically pointed toward the terrace. "Isn't the girls in our class enough for him?! Now he's going after girls from other classes too?!"
Several people turned to look at him, causing the group to shrink slightly.
Denki was the first to follow the direction of his finger.
"Relax."
"I CAN'T RELAX!" Mineta jumped up from his chair. "Look at him!"
Everyone ended up staring at the terrace.
Reiji was still sitting between Himiko and Nejire as they seed to be having a perfectly normal conversation.
"I hate this place, I hate cute guys," Mineta muttered.
"I think the blonde is his sister," Denki comnted after a few seconds.
"He said so this morning," Shoji nodded.
"Yes."
"Besides, they look quite alike."
"That's not the important thing," Mineta replied imdiately. "The other one is the problem!"
Kirishima looked at Nejire.
"The one with the blue hair?"
"Yes, the one with the blue hair!!"
Because it was one thing to see Reiji having lunch with his sister.
And quite another to see him sharing a table with one of the most beautiful students Mineta had ever seen in the entire academy.
"Well..." Kirishima shrugged. "Maybe she's friends with his sister."
"That seems the most logical explanation," Shoji added.
"The three of them seem quite comfortable with each other."
"Exactly," Tokoyami said.
"It would be strange to assu otherwise."
Mineta slumped onto the table.
Defeated.
Betrayed by the universe.
"Why always him?"
No one answered.
Because a part of everyone understood exactly what he ant.
Reiji had co in first in the tests. He'd defeated several robots during the entrance exam. Aizawa had practically singled him out as the student to watch.
He was good in combat.
He seed intelligent.
He was handso.
And it turned out he knew pretty girls from upperclassn.
He was everything Mineta was striving for!
From the outside, it was hard not to feel like he stood out too much.
"It's annoying," Denki admitted.
Several eyes turned toward him.
"What?" Kaminari asked, noticing the stares. "I'm serious."
He pointed toward the rooftop.
"It's like the guy ca with the ga already played, and we're barely at level 1."
Kirishima burst out laughing.
"That was pretty specific."
"But he's right," Iida conceded. "Most of us are just getting used to U.A., and he seems like he's from a higher class."
"Because he's always calm," Shoji comnted. "He's been calm in every test and class so far."
Tokoyami nodded slowly.
"Like the difficulty is nothing."
"That's exactly what's weird," Denki said. "Have you ever seen anyone make that guy nervous?"
Everyone was lost in thought.
No one answered.
Because they couldn't rember a single mont.
Reiji always seed the sa.
"He's competitive," Kirishima murmured. "But not in the normal way."
"What does that an?" Denki asked.
Kirishima crossed his arms as he continued staring at the terrace.
"He doesn't try to prove he's better than everyone else."
He paused.
"And that's precisely what makes him seem absurdly superior to us, even if he does it unintentionally."
That observation was quite accurate.
Reiji wasn't trying to be number one; he was simply giving his all when he needed to. The others just sighed inwardly. Unlike Mineta, they weren't envious of him, nor did they dislike him.
However, every man has a little pride to maintain, and it seed that Reiji could beat them all, even in their respective specialties, effortlessly. From that perspective, it was unfair.
Although the only one who reacted negatively to it was Mineta himself.
"I hate him," Mineta muttered for the third ti.
"We should work harder to reach his level. That's what we want to achieve," Kirishima concluded with conviction. "We must prove that we are n too, and that we can be as strong as him, or even stronger."
"Yes!" Everyone nodded with renewed conviction, not caring for another second who they were talking to, except, of course, for Mineta, who looked at them all as if they were fools.
'I'll be popular soday too!'
***
"Who is it?"
Itsuka Kendo's question ca naturally as she placed her tray on the table.
The girl from Class 1-B had followed Shinso's gaze for several seconds before finally asking. Ever since they had sat down to lunch, the purple-haired boy had been intermittently glancing toward one of the upper terraces of the cafeteria.
From what little she knew of him, he didn't seem like the type to dwell on trivial matters.
"A friend," he replied simply. "Reiji Toga."
The na imdiately caught the attention of several people present.
Ojiro was the first to react.
"Toga?"
Juzo also looked up.
"Exactly," Shinso replied.
Now the entire table was watching the terrace.
From that distance, they could clearly make out the small group of three people. Two girls seed to be carrying the conversation almost entirely on their own, while the boy between them endured the verbal barrage with an almost suspicious calmness.
"Ah," Tetsutetsu murmured. "The one who seems to be getting questioned."
"He looks pretty normal," Yui comnted in her usual flat tone.
"That's what I thought when I first t him," Shinso replied.
That caused several glances to return to him. Because the statent sounded strange.
Especially coming from soone so expressionless.
Itsuka rested his elbow on the table.
"So, how close is he to you?"
"We trained together to get into U.A. He transferred to my middle school when he moved to Musutafu."
The response was imdiate.
"Really?" Ojiro asked.
"Yes."
"Then he must be pretty strong too," Tetsutetsu comnted, recalling Shinso's spectacular display of physical prowess the day before; he'd certainly placed fifth in the tests.
It was sowhat ironic, considering he'd been the last to qualify in the entrance exam. If Reiji had a more physical Quirk than Shinso, then it would easily explain his ranking in the entrance exam.
Shinso remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he looked back toward the terrace.
"Compared to him, I'm barely a trainee."
The table fell strangely quiet.
Because Shinso didn't seem prone to false modesty.
If he said sothing like that, it was because he truly ant it.
"Co on," Juzo said with a smile. "You're definitely exaggerating."
"No," Shinso replied simply. "Not at all."
That only piqued their curiosity even more.
Even Ibara looked up from her food.
"Is he really that talented?" he asked gently.
Shinso placed a hand on the table.
He tried to think of how to explain it.
It wasn't easy.
Because the problem had never been solely strength.
"When we were training..." he began. "There were tis when I forgot we were candidates to get into U.A."
"What do you an by that?" Kendo asked.
"That he seed like soone who had already spent years training as a hero. His movents, his way of thinking, and the way he uses his Quirk are impressive. Even my Quirk doesn't work on him."
The answer ca without hesitation.
Several eyebrows rose around the table.
"That does sound exaggerated," Tetsutetsu comnted.
"I know," Shinso replied. "But it's the truth... Just don't tell him I said that, please."
He could admire Reiji quite a bit, but... Tell him directly? Never. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Now you really have to explain," Juzo said. "You left us wondering."
The purple-haired boy sighed.
"You don't have to believe . You'll surely see for yourselves at so point, but I really think he has everything he needs to beco a hero right now..."
Now a few smiles began to appear.
Because the description was starting to sound ridiculous.
Tetsutetsu was the first to laugh.
"Okay, you're definitely exaggerating."
"I'm simplifying," Shinso replied seriously. To say he'd be just another run-of-the-mill hero was an understatent, but even he had his limits when it ca to flattering him.
The laughter gradually faded.
Because the purple-haired boy still had the exact sa serious expression.
And that was what was worrying.
"How strong is he?" Kendo asked.
It was probably the question everyone was thinking.
Shinso remained silent for a few seconds.
"I don't know, I've never seen him fight at 100%."
Juzo glanced back at the terrace.
Reiji had just moved slightly aside to avoid one of the blue-haired girl's exaggerated gestures.
He seed completely ordinary; beyond his pretty face, he didn't stand out much. He didn't appear to have a particularly impressive physique.
"He doesn't seem that scary," he said.
"I know," Shinso replied, a small smile appearing on his face. "That's part of the problem."
Kendo looked again at the boy sitting between the two girls.
"Now I want to face him and see if what you say is true," he declared. As a martial arts student, finding a rival and fighting with honor was natural. It wasn't a matter of pride or comparison, simply a desire to improve.
Shinso let out a small, nasal laugh.
"Yeah," he said, turning his attention back to his food. "I already gave the warning."
***
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