BNHA: I am Reiji Toga Chapter 62: School Life (2)

The sun shone obliquely across the windows of the U.A. main cafeteria, bathing the tal tables in golden hues and casting long shadows across the polished floor. The constant hum of hundreds of conversations filled the vast space, mingling with the clatter of trays, cutlery, and students moving back and forth between the rows of the self-service area.

Reiji had settled near one of the columns by the windows, taking advantage of a free mont to secure a relatively quiet spot before the cafeteria beca completely full.

In front of him rested a tray of food that looked truly appetizing. Lunch-Rush had prepared this dish, just like everyone else's in the cafeteria, with an almost gourt quality considering the amount of food she had to make every day.

He had no company that day, at least not yet.

Himiko kept a different schedule, and although she would probably show up at so point to bother him for whatever reason ca to mind, for now he was alone.

In fact, being alone seed almost a constant desire.

He dug his fork into the rice while absentmindedly observing the activity in the dining hall. Students from all grades were scattered everywhere.

"ditating on the aning of life or simply judging the food?"

The voice made him look up. Shinso had just arrived with a tray in his hands.

Behind him walked two more students.

A girl with hair made entirely of thick green vines and a serene expression, next to a dark-haired boy whose arm was partially transford into a kind of tal screw.

"Both," Reiji replied, accepting that his solitude had already ended even before it began.

"Understandable." Shinso took a seat without asking. The other two did the sa, seeing their companion act so naturally.

Reiji observed the scene for a second.

"I see you've made so friends."

"I'm surprised too," Shinso replied, arranging his things.

The comnt brought a small smile to Reiji's face.

The girl with the vines clasped her hands in front of her before bowing her head slightly.

"It's a pleasure to et you." Reiji looked at her for a few monts, vaguely rembering her character. The boy beside her, however, didn't recognize him at all.

Shinso finished making the introductions.

"Reiji, these are Ibara Shiozaki and Awase Yosetsu. Class 1-B."

"Ibara," she said with a slight bow. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"You'd be surprised how common that phrase is..." Reiji replied.

Awase raised a hand.

"I'm Awase. Nice to et you, Blood Boy," Awase joked with a smile.

Reiji blinked, glancing slightly at Shinso, who seed to pretend not to notice. He then turned his gaze back to Awase. He didn't mind the nickna, but clearly soone was talking too much, and this ti it wasn't Himiko.

"A pleasure to et you all, Reiji Toga," he introduced himself briefly.

The conversation continued naturally after that.

Reiji quickly noticed that Awase was much more sociable than Shinso and Ibara, the latter possessing a tranquility that contrasted sharply with most of the students he had t so far.

On the other hand, Shinso seed to have adapted surprisingly well to them.

Which was odd.

When they first t, Shinso was probably one of the least sociable people he had seen in years.

"It's rare to see people from different classes who already knew each other before coming here," Awase comnted as he cut a croquette.

"I guess we're the exception," Reiji replied.

"Midoriya's missing too. You'll et him eventually."

"Another friend?" Awase asked.

"Yes," Shinso replied.

"And probably the most normal of the three," Reiji added.

"The competition isn't too tough either," Shinso concluded.

Ibara let out a small laugh before taking a sip of juice.

"I'm glad to find out the class rivalry isn't as intense as so people imagined."

"Did you expect it?" Reiji asked, following the conversation at his own pace.

"A little," she admitted. "A lot of people talk about Class A and Class B as if they're constantly at odds."

The ntal image of Bakugo insulting half the planet automatically popped into Reiji's mind. Although for now, that rivalry complex only ca from Class B, since as far as he'd heard, Class B had barely been ntioned in his class.

'I suppose the teachers also influence the rivalry...'

Aizawa was too pragmatic and didn't usually dwell on irrelevant things like that; perhaps for that very reason, he hadn't tried to instill any sense of competitiveness in Class B.

"There are one or two cases," he acknowledged. "But most of us are quite normal."

"That's a relief," Ibara replied. "We didn't co into this life to compete for pride, only to brighten the lives of others with our charm."

Before the conversation could progress much further, a new voice appeared at the side of the table.

"Am I interrupting sothing?" Mina Ashido appeared, holding her tray.

Smiling as always.

"Yes," Reiji replied. "But you're still going to sit down."

"Right," Mina answered as she took the empty seat.

The ease with which she did so made Awase raise an eyebrow, rembering his own growing trust with Reiji.

"Alright, go ahead then..."

That made Mina smile, and Reiji then introduced her.

From then on, the table gradually began to fill up. Jiro appeared a few minutes later, seeking to escape a particularly noisy conversation with Mineta and Denki.

Before Reiji knew it, what was supposed to be a quiet lunch had turned into a shared table between students from both classes.

As he listened to Mina trying to convince Awase that joint classes would be fun and watched Shinso argue with Jiro about who had the worse temper, Reiji ca to a simple conclusion.

'The world just won't leave alone for a second...'

When it was finally ti to head back to class, everyone slowly began to get up.

"Thanks for sharing the table," Ibara said with a slight bow.

"Anyti," Reiji replied.

Shinso picked up his tray and watched him for a mont.

"You're fitting in pretty quickly."

Reiji let out a small exhale through his nose.

"It's the last thing I wanted. I can't even have a solitary lunch..."

"How cruel."

Reiji just shrugged, walking away to put down his tray and head to class.

***

The workshop air was thick with tallic dust, the sll of fresh welding, and the constant hum of several machines running simultaneously. After not having visited for two days, it seed as if so new parts had replaced so old ones.

In the midst of that perfectly functional chaos, i Hatsu spun around even after Reiji had finished closing the door.

"You took your ti."

The accusation ca imdiately. She was supposed to have co yesterday.

Reiji raised an eyebrow as he moved between several boxes full of components.

"I didn't have any free ti," he replied calmly. "But I did today, so I thought I'd bring my suit."

"Perfect." i practically jumped out of her chair. "I finished it yesterday."

She paused.

Too short.

"Well... technically, twenty hours and twenty-four minutes ago." She paused again. "But it's not like I'm counting."

Reiji watched her for a few seconds.

That was strange.

i usually didn't even rember what she'd had for breakfast.

Counting minutes didn't seem like sothing she was capable of.

However, before he could say anything, the girl had already crossed half the workshop and was starting to rummage through several tables.

"Here," she finally declared. "Version two."

All the components of his suit rested on a table. Unlike the first version, it seed much more refined.

Reiji approached curiously, observing the clear new details, such as the cuts on his ribs and the new hood. The belt had so new compartnts, perhaps a quick way to balance it, and he also noticed so new straps on her wristbands to hold them in place.

"I fixed the things you ntioned: the belt, the wristband, the rib cuts, the hood, the left heel, and finally added a couple more things to make it more durable overall," i began listing them off in her head. "Also, the mask now works as a toxin cleaner. It might not be entirely useful for you, but it could be for others."

"They look good," Reiji comnted with a smile. It was extraordinary what i could accomplish in just one day.

"And it'll feel much better," i replied imdiately. "I made sure of that."

"Yes, I suppose this will be my suit for a long ti..." Reiji remarked with a nod, beginning to pack his suit back into its case to leave it in its designated place for tomorrow's tests. "At least until it tears and I decide to improve it."

"I hope it lasts a long ti then," i said unconsciously, which made Reiji look up.

That was strange; the i he knew would have eagerly awaited the second option so she could go back to working on one of her babies.

As he packed away the new equipnt, sothing else caught his attention.

A familiar, rather subtle scent. Even so, impossible to mask with Reiji's enhanced sense of sll.

Blood. Not enough to indicate a wound, but enough for other bodily processes.

His conclusion was imdiate.

That probably explained the slight differences in behavior compared to the usual i.

Hormonal fluctuations affected many people in different ways.

It was a much more logical explanation than anything else.

Especially when it ca to i.

"Thanks for the help with the suit," Reiji finally said, closing the briefcase. "I guess it was worth exposing myself to your experints so my suit wouldn't have any imperfections."

The satisfied smile that appeared on i's face lasted only a few seconds before disappearing when she rembered sothing.

"Hey," she said, pointing at him. "Are you making fun of ?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"A little."

"I knew it!"

The girl's usual energy partially returned.

Which made everything seem much more normal.

"Well, I don't have much ti." Reiji took the briefcase and turned to the girl. "Himiko's about to finish her activity, and I promised I'd go ho with her. Besides, I still have to put this away."

i just nodded; she understood perfectly.

"Don't forget to visit when you have ti, then. I still want to try so babies," she ntioned casually. Reiji just nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't know when that'll happen..." He said goodbye to i and left the workshop casually.

'Why is everything so strange lately?' The thought ca to him as he walked down the hallway, ignoring the eyes that seed to be following him until he finally turned the corner.