Chapter Text
The class walked back inside, and went to the locker rooms to change. As Kenji pulled off his uniform shirt, he felt a light smack on his kneecap.
“What gives, man? How do you do it?”
“Huh?” Kenji said, before looking downwards. There was that purple haired boy from earlier, Minoru Mineta.
“Uhh, I just dumped all my quirk energy into my beefing up my arm with muscles and-“
“Not that!” Mineta said. “That girl! She was coddling you like you were the most precious thing in the world! How do you make her love you like that?!” He waved his arms around for emphasis.
“Wait, are you talking about Himiko?”
“Himiko… Oh, even her name is so attractive! I just want to dig my hands into her thick-”
DONK!
Mineta’s head was suddenly slammed into the ground by Dark Shadow headbutting him. Fumikage reeled him back, before picking the unconscious boy.
“I apologize, Bakugo. Tsu and I shared a middle school class with this delinquent, and we know how he can get.”
Kenji blinked a couple of times at the efficiency of which they disabled the small kid, before nodding a couple times.
“Oh, of course. And please” he said, as he smiled at the bird-headed boy. “Call me Kenji. It’ll be easier to distinguish me from my twin if you call us by our first names.”
Fumikage nodded. “Very well, Kenji. In that case, you may call me Fumikage.”
“Got it. Fumikage it is.”
Fumikage nodded, before walking away with the now-conscious boy squirming in his grasp.
“Hey! Lemme go! I need to figure out what kind of hypnosis that guy has that lets him be around all the hotties!”
“The only hypnosis you’ll have to worry about is mine.” A voice said from around the corner. Kenji turned and curiously followed the sound to a tired-looking, purple haired boy.
“Oh! Who are you?” He asked.
The purple haired boy looked at him, squinting slightly, sizing him up. “Hitoshi Aizawa. And you’re Kenji Bakugo, one of my father’s trainees, correct?”
Kenji was about to answer, when Hitoshi held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t answer my questions immediately. My quirk makes it so that anyone who converses with me gets put in a hypnotic trance, and becomes completely under my control. You can circumnavigate it by waiting a few moments before replying.”
Kenji nodded, before pausing for a couple of seconds, then continuing. “Yeah, I’m one of the kids Mr Aizawa was training. Are you his son?”
Hitoshi nodded. “Adopted, but yes.”
Suddenly, a snort came from nearby Katsuki’s locker, and he spoke up.
“Pretty sure that was obvious, Puppetmaster.”
Hitoshi whipped around, and glared at the spiky-haired boy.
“You got a problem with that, Firecracker?”
Katsuki met his gaze fearlessly, and walked up till they met eye to eye. Hitoshi’s tired, annoyed eyes met Katsuki’s smug, cocky ones, and everyone else in the room could feel the tension. After a few moments, Katsuki chuckled.
“I like this one. Stubborn. See ya around, Hypno-Boy.” He said, before walking away.
Hitoshi scowled at Katsuki’s back, before Kenji spoke up.
“Sorry about him. He tends to have a shorter fuse than most, but he’s getting better.”
Hitoshi scoffed, before returning to his locker, while Kenji returned to his.
“Yo, Kenji!” A familiar voice said from behind him.
Kenji turned around and smiled.
“Heya, Kirishima! What can I do for you?”
Kirishima smiled, before holding up a finger, as if he was preparing to ask a question.
“I’ve just got one small question.”
“And I might have an answer. Go ahead.”
“Why do you use my last name? For everyone else, you use their first name, so why not mine?”
Kenji tapped his chin for a moment, before looking back at his friend. “I guess I do it because your last name sounds so cool. Like, Kirishima, the super manly rock guy! No offense, but when I think of “Eijiro” it just doesn’t sound as cool and masculine as Kirishima.”
“Hmm… yeah, I guess you have a point.” Kirishima said.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s no intended disrespect. I just prefer your last name, is all.”
”Alright then, Kirishima it is. Thanks for clearing that up bro.”
“No problem, man.” Kenji said as he finished putting on the school uniform and closed his locker.
Meanwhile, in the opposing locker room
Himiko sat down on the bench in front of the locker and buried her face in her hands. She acted like such a lovesick idiot, rushing to protect Kenji from a fall that could at worst leave a bruise. He was just so cute! So amazing! So lovable! So…
“Hey, Himiko, right? Izuku’s sister?”
Himiko snapped out of her daydream and looked up to see Ochaco standing above her. She nodded.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“May I sit with you? You seem nice.”
“Sure.” Himiko said, moving some of her personal items to the side so Ochaco could sit. She did so, and then rested a hand on Himiko’s shoulder.”
“I’m so sorry you placed low in the apprehension test.” Ochaco said.
“It’s alright” Himiko replied. “I knew I wouldn’t be placing high. My quirk doesn’t really boost my physical abilities that much by itself. And it would be… really creepy to ask someone for their blood so I could turn into them.”
Ochaco nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I would’ve lended you some of my blood if you’d asked. I’m not sure how much it would have helped, though.”
Himiko looked shocked as she looked at Ochaco. “You would’ve? But, wouldn’t that be creepy? I usually get blood from animals, or people I know. Strangers, though…”
Ochaco nodded again. “It’s fine, really.”
Himiko hugged the brown-haired girl. “Thank you so much, Ochaco! This really means a lot to me.”
Ochaco returned the hug, and smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Suddenly, a pink blur came skidding to a stop in front of them.
“HIIIMIKOOO!” Mina said, plopping down on the bench opposite of Himiko and Ochaco. “We need to talk. NOW!” She said eagerly.
Himiko paused, and looked at the giddy girl. “About what?”
“About Kenji! You swooped in there like his guardian angel!” She said, before her eyes turned wild and her smile grew wider. “You ran to catch him pretty fast, didn’t ya?”
Himiko stuttered, and she felt her face turning redder than the blood she craved right now. Not just any blood. Kenji’s. Everyone’s blood had a different taste to her. Izuku’s was sweet, like candy, Katsuki’s was salty, like seawater, and her own blood tasted sour, like a lemon.
But Kenji’s!
Kenji’s blood was delicious. It was everything at once. Fresh fruit, savory steak, salty potato chips, eee! She just loved it so so much! Any time he offered it she wanted to just accept and indulge, but she couldn’t. At least, not all the time. She couldn’t just tell him his was her favorite. She had already slipped up once by saying that the more she likes someone, the better their blood tastes to her, while actively feeding off of him. But she was lucky he hadn’t caught on. So for now, she just had to hide it, and enjoy his blood only occasionally. For now, he couldn’t know she-
“Hello, Earth to Planet Himiko?” Mina said, waving her hand in front of Himiko’s face.
“Huh? Uhh, what?” She said, snapping out of her daydream again.
”We wanted to know why you ran so fast to catch Kenji earlier this morning?” Mina said, to which Ochaco nodded.
Himiko waved her hands and shook her head. “It’s not what you think! I swear! It’s just…” she paused, and thought about it for a moment. “He just feels so fragile, you know? Because of his quirk, he’s always so small and thin compared to his brother, and even Izuku and I. He’s only a bit taller than me because he modified his own body to be that way! I just… it’s not… I, I just want to keep him safe. He’s a good person, and a kind friend, and I’m in limited supply of those. You get it?”
Mina giggled. “Alright, Himi, I’ll buy that for now, but I’ve still got my eye on the two of you. Especially when you’re together. Toodles!” She said, before walking away while whistling a happy tune.
Himiko groaned as she finished changing. How was she going to survive this school year without letting her hopeless crush slip?
Next on the day’s schedule was lunch. All of Class 1-A met in the cafeteria, picked up their lunch trays for the day, sandwiches and soba, and sat down at their table. Kenji sat next to his brother, Izuku, Kirishima and Fumikage.
“So, what exactly is Dark Shadow? Is he your quirk, or…” Izuku asked
“Yes. Dark Shadow is my quirk. Technically, it is an emitter, though due to the physical alterations to my body, and the fact that it cannot be disabled by Mr Aizawa’s Erasure, it is a Mutant Quirk in all but name.”
“Fascinating.” Izuku said, scribbling notes down in his notebook. “And it has its own personality? It’s fully sentient?”
“Correct. Dark Shadow is, unfortunately, sentient.”
“Whaddaya mean, “unfortunately”? I’m the coolest quirk in the world!” Dark Shadow said, popping his head out of Fumikage’s shoulder. Fumikage quickly slapped a hand over his shoulder, pushing the amorphous corvid back into hiding.
“Does he feel pain?” Izuku asked.
“Yes, to light and things that generate light. Physical attacks can either bounce right off him, or go straight through him, but light, fire, and Lightning are what really hurt him. When he takes enough damage he forcefully goes back into my body until he has healed.”
Izuku continued to write in his notebook, while Kenji nodded in understanding.
“Interesting. Does he get along well with other birds?” Kenji said.
“Yes. Most birds view him neutrally, neither opposing nor cooperating with him, but he gets along well with birds of prey, parrots and their relatives, and corvids.”
“That’s awesome!” Kenji said. “I’ve got a pet Harpy Eagle named Gryphon, I’d bet Dark Shadow would-“
“Well Well Well, if it isn’t the 1-A Fool’s Class.” Said a snobbish voice from behind them. Kenji whipped around, and saw a boy with blonde hair, fancy clothes, and the smuggest grin on the planet leading another group of kids into the cafeteria.
“Class 1-B” Izuku muttered under his breath
“Yes, we, the members of Class 1-B, are here to overshadow you failures in every conceivable-ERK!”
He was abruptly cut off by a massive hand karate chopping his shoulder, causing him to collapse on the ground. A girl with orange hair waved and smiled.
“Sorry about him. I promise he’s the only one who believes that stupid stuff. I’m Kendo, class rep of Class 1-B.”
“Class Rep? What’s that?” A boy with yellow hair with a streak of black in it, Denki Kaminari, asked.
“Oh, right, 1-A’s doing Rep elections after lunch. Basically you all vote on who represents your class in teacher meetings and stuff like that.”
Kaminari nodded and sat down.
“Anyways, I’ll try to keep Monoma in check, but if he gets off his proverbial leash, let me know.”
“Will do, thanks Kendo!” The girl with the spiky ponytail, Momo Yaoyorozu, said.
“No problem! Tetsutetsu! Come on! We’re eating!”
A boy with steel grey hair, evidently named Tetsutetsu, was standing in front of Kirishima, pressing one hand against each other’s hand.
“You’re like me, but grey, and steely.” Kirishima said
“And you’re like me, but red and rocky.” Tetsutetsu said.
“But the resemblance is… uncanny. It’s as if…” Kirishima started
“We’re two characters in a movie, being played by the same actor!” They both said in unison.
”Tetsu!” Kendo said sharply, causing the grey haired boy to startle and scurry back to Kendo’s side with an apologetic look.
”I like him, he’s super manly.” Kirishima said with a wide grin.
The class wrapped up lunch and then proceeded to their classroom. A box with a slot in it sat on the table in the front of the room, and, once everyone was seated, two spotlights came on.
“Gooood Afternoon, Class 1-A!” Two familiar voices said, as Present Mic and Nimbus descended from the ceiling on a floating cloud, landing on each side of the table.
“I hope you guys are ready, cuz this is gonna be an important part of your journey here at UA!” Mic said.
“You’re gonna be electing your class representative!” Nimbus said, using some clouds to highlight the box. “Everyone will write down the name of who you want to be elected, and then slide it into the box! The only rule, no voting for yourself!”
The two energetic pro heroes passes slips of paper out to each classmate. When Kenji received his, he took out his pencil and thought to himself.
Alright, who should the class rep be? Someone responsible, enjoyable, and a good leader. Ida? Maybe… Yaoyorozu? She seems smart, and good at making plans.
A small voice in the back of his head kept repeating one name, however.
Himiko.
No, I can’t vote Himiko. Just because I like her, doesn’t mean I should automatically vote her.
Vote Himiko.
No! I wouldn’t want to tie her down to such a big role. She’ll probably find it boring. I’ll vote for Ida. He seems like the guy who would love to be in charge and be responsible.
He write Ida’s name on the slip and turned it in, then waited for everyone else to finish. His mind wandered, thinking of new animals to create, new ways to use his quirk, ways to bolster his physical power without passing out like last time. Yet no matter how far his thoughts wandered, they always came back to one topic. One person. One girl.
“And that’s it! Let’s tally the votes!” Present Mic said.
He and Nimbus counted each vote, before rallying them up on a chart.
“Skipping all the classmates who got no votes, we have Izuku Midoriya with one vote, Katsuki Bakugo with one vote, Kyoka Jiro with one vote. Tsuyu Asui with two votes, Kenji Bakugo with two votes, Tenya Ida with six votes, and, your new class president, Momo Yaoyorozu with 7 votes!”
Everyone clapped as Momo stepped up and faced the class.
“I promise I will do my best as Class President. I will not fail you!” She said with determination, clenching her fist.
The rest of the day was filled with regular classes, such as mathematics, Literature, Science (Kenji shocked the teacher, a hero by the name of Bioshokk, by successfully creating a biological cure for the common cold in the thirty minutes allocated), and Art. When the day was over, Kenji and his friends all went home together, excited for what the new day had in store.