Welcome to 1-B
Now, finally accepted at UA, Kaine had a small to-do list before school starts up in the spring. Before he could go to school he had to follow the steps on the paper given to him. One of the first steps was to design a suit. Kaine was excited, but he also wasn't a fantastic artist, so already he had hit a slight speed bump. The other speed bump was making a suit. What would he make? It obviously had to go with his quirk in some way, but how would he incorporate it? So, Kaine stayed up for hours upon hours making many different suits.
At first he didn't understand what the paper was asking, and thought it was asking him to make a suit he could make on his own. So he had a couple of different designs that consisted of sweaters, balaclavas, and sweatpants. Eventually he had settled on a design he really liked that consisted of a sleeveless blue hoodie with a red body suit underneath that had a utility belt of some kind. But as Kaine began re-reading the paper he realized that he'd make the design and a professional company would make his suit for him. He then promptly smacked his head against the wall about one hundred times after he was finished saying 'Oh' for twenty minutes.
So, after he realized he wouldn't have to make it, he started getting more creative. The first design was an all dark blue body suit that had some padding in important areas (such as the groin), it also had a large red spider on the chest whose legs reached up over his shoulders and around his waist area. It also had red padding on the top of his hands that also covered his knuckles, as well as a red outline for the white eye lenses on the mask. When Kaine finished the design he took a long look at it and frowned. He then took his time to go through his comics and see that the design was already used by a villain. Why do villains have to have cool costume designs? he wondered.
The next design was an all red body suit with blue hands and feet. It also had a large blue/black spider emblem on the chest. The top two legs went up and down the shoulders and arms before connecting to the gloves. The bottom two went down the hips and thighs before connecting to the boots. And the middle four just jutted out a little bit and stopped at the rib cage. For the mask it was more of a cowl/bandana type of deal. Kaine quickly ripped the page out of the notebook and threw it in the trash, That was Tarantula, god damn iiiiiiit! Again, Kaine hung his head in disappointment, Why are villain costumes cool?
The next outfit was all black with a lot of protection and soft soles (to hide sound the best he could). It had scary looking red lenses, and a large red spider emblem on the front and back. On the palms were red hourglass symbols and there were sharp claws or stingers on the fingers. Kaine liked the suit design, but he couldn't help that it looked a little...threatening? Like some sort of anti-hero looking suit. He didn't throw it out, but he put it on the back burner if he didn't like his other ideas.
Thinking about doing the opposite, Kaine decided on an all white suit that had blacked out lenses. It also had black accents on the inside of his arms and on his palms that go down his sides and the outside if his thighs and feet. Finally. there was a medium sized spider on his chest and back that connected to each other by the legs. Kaine let out a deep breath and sighed. It's nice but...I don't know. It just doesn't feel like me. It doesn't feel like how I'd want other people to see me. He clicked his tongue and shrugged, Also I feel like it'd be hard to get stains out of it.
Kaine sighed and he lied down on the floor and just stared at his ceiling. "God...mom...whoever is listening. Do you think you could give me a sign? What should my suit look like? I want something that brings hope to people, but also strikes fear into villains when they see it. At the same time I don't want to look...well, evil." Something fell off the shelf which caught Kaine's attention. He got up off the floor and walked over to what fell. It was a book, one of the few novels on his bookshelf. It had been his mom's, likely from college courses and not much else. The Scarlet Letter? Kaine thought as he picked it up. This book is ancient, I'm surprised they still teach it. But I suppose that's what happens when you have a good message for people. "Not exactly the sign I expected, guys." Kaine went to put away the novel, but as he did so he saw a comic sticking up slightly. Curious, he grabs the comic, "OH!" he shouts in surprise. The comic was a Spider-Man comic, but not the original. It was of Miles Morales, the Spider-Man that had his career in the early 2000s to about 2030.
"Miles Morales, of course!" Kaine exclaimed. "Yeah, he was cool. He showed up in a time when crime rate started increasing again, he instantly was given the Spider-Man name. He had those cool bio-electric powers, he could turn invisible. What a cool guy." Kaine went to put the comic away when he saw the comic cover behind where he was placing the comic in his hand. Kaine pulled out the other comic, also of Miles Morales, to see him in a different suit. It was like his regular suit, black with red web pattern, from the shoulder up, but from the shoulder down it was white.
Kaine's eyes widened a bit, Wait...I think I have an idea. Kaine then grabbed a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man and looked at the two suits side-by-side. Gaining inspiration, Kaine quickly went back to the drawing pad. Like the original Spider-Man suit, Kaine decided to have the base of his suit be red, but all red, no blue trim. However, like Miles' suit, Kaine made it so the suit was black from his shoulders and shoulder blades up to the mask. He made the fingers and soles of the shoes black too. He made the lenses red like the suit, and finally, he put a medium sized black spider emblem on the chest making it look like it came out from the black parts of the suit.
Kaine nodded, Yeah, this is the one I think. Kaine started making notes on the page of how he wanted the suit to be made. He made a note that the black parts should be Jet Black, so they looked as dark as can be. He then noted that the lenses should be reflective. He of course then noted that the suit and lenses should be Red. Kaine gripped his chin and frowned, That seems a little vague. A lightbulb suddenly went off over Kaine's head and he quickly added clarification. "Scarlet Red." he said with a nod. "Good, I think this will be a solid suit.
Kaine, again, lied himself on the ground and was about to take a nap when realization came to him. "Oh crap!" Kaine shot up so quickly that he made himself stand up, "I have to give them measurements!"
Finally, after a couple months of preparing, Kaine was finally heading out the door and going to his first day of classes at UA High. He was much more excited than he thought, perhaps it was because he was finally starting hero courses, maybe it was because he could finally get out of The Sinkhole again. Maybe it was both. He waved his goodbyes to the people of his neighborhood and began his long trek to school.
I should really consider getting a bike, or a skateboard. Anything would be better than this half hour walk to the campus. Kaine thought as he passed the corner store he usually stopped at in the mornings.
When Kaine finally arrived on the campus he had to take a few moments to collect his nerves. Oh, are these...first day jitters? he thought with a nervous smile, I uh...I've never been this...oh god. Kaine held his hand over his mouth and ran to the nearest tree that was by the front gates and hid behind it to throw up. "Ope, first day jitters." some older student said as he spotted Kaine out the corner of his eye. Kaine blushed, his embarrassment of being seen puking on the first day now being the only thing in his head. He, in turn, puked again at the thought.
Kaine spit a couple of times to get the rest of the vomit taste out of his mouth. Carrots, carrots, carrots. Why does it always feel like carrots? I don't even like carrots, I don't even EAT carrots! Kaine wiped his mouth and cringed when he realized he had spit with vomit in his hand. He then wiped his hand on the grass and proceeded to the entrance. When he got back onto the paved pathway he bumped into a student who was trying to rush to class, "Sorry!" the kid apologized. Kaine's eyes widened in surprise at the familiar mop of green hair.
"Midoriya!?" he asked, "You made it?" Oh, that sounded rude, whoops.
Midoriya stopped mid-stride and turned around, Oh, it's that guy from Seaside Park! Wait, I still don't know who he is. Midoriya gave a nervous smile, "Y-Yeah, just barely though."
Kaine slumped his shoulders and sighed, "You don't remember me at all, do you."
"N-NO! You're the guy from Seaside Park, you wished me luck!" Midoriya defended.
Kaine had to stop himself from letting out a snort, Not what I meant, but he is right I guess. "Not that, Midoriya." Kaine gestured to himself with his hands, "Kaine Yoshida? We had Social Studies together? I sat behind you all year?"
Midoriya cupped his chin in thought before his eyes suddenly widened, "WAIT YOU'RE THAT TALL, GLOOMY GUY!" he quickly covered his mouth and blushed from embarrassment, "Sorry."
Kaine slumped his shoulders even more, Wait, is that seriously how I come off to other people? "Y-Yeah, that's me. I'm in class 1-B, how about you?"
Midoriya looked up, slightly surprised, "I'm in 1-A. I'm heading there now."
Wait, seriously? Damn, he must have scored perfect on that written test or something. Kaine nodded and smiled, I suppose that's what happens when you study. After all, to be a hero it's just as important to be smart as it is to be strong. Kaine patted Midoriya on his shoulder, "Good job, I had no idea you were a genius."
Midoriya smiled nervously as he and Kaine walked into the building, Genius? he thought.
The two continued to walk together until Kaine found 1-B, which wasn't that hard to miss, the door had the name of the class plastered over the whole thing. Kaine and Midoriya nodded and the green haired 1-A student continued to his class. Kaine stared at the door of 1-B for a few minutes, Damn, this door is huge. Kaine thought, Like, do we have students that are 300 centimeters and above? Taking a deep breath, Kaine finally opened the door. Looking around it was a fairly normal classroom with twenty desks and a teachers desk at the front as well as a white board.
Once inside the class Kaine was met with a few other students, all of which he assumed would be his classmates for the rest of his time here at UA.
One of these students was tall young man who is large and muscular in stature, possessing very wide shoulders, yet a smaller waist, and he had unusually sizeable hands. His skin is a yellow straw-like color, and his head is shaped somewhat like a glue-dispenser with a lappet on top, along with seven...eye-holes(?) on his face. Oh, I guess I'm not the biggest guy here, I already feel more comfortable. Kaine thought.
Talking to the tall student was a shorter male student who had ice-blue hair. He was kinda chubby, and seemed soft spoken from the few words of the conversation Kaine heard. Overall he seem like a nice kid.
In the middle of the class were a group of girls, though they didn't seem to know each other as they seemed to be introducing themselves. They just happened to be assigned near each other. One of the girls was pretty average height with a slim, yet fit body type. She had pretty long orange hair that was tied off in a high ponytail on the left side of her head. Kaine noticed she had tealish color eyes which stood out the most to Kaine; Next to her is a girl with a more athletic build, also on the short side, she had medium length black hair. She was on the more quiet side, Kaine already felt comfortable with so many quiet looking people in class; Behind them was a girl that was fairly tall who had long green hair though something was...off? Like her hair seemed thick and more like vines instead of hair. She seemed fairly relaxed though and something about her vibe just made Kaine feel at ease; Finally, there was one more girl in the group, a really short looking girl who had a thick, rounded bob haircut with her hair covering her eyes. Again, to Kaine, her uneasiness and shy looking demeanor made him feel at ease. Man, if everyone here is as much of an outcast as I am, I feel like I'll get through this class easy breezy.
"Hey man, are you gonna walk through or you gonna block the entrance all day?" Kaine jumped in surprise and quickly entered the room. Behind him was the boy the voice belonged to. He was an an averaged height teen, he had spiked black hair that spiked off a bit to his left, and he wore a headband with a zig-zag pattern. He was smiling the whole time, but something about him made Kaine's spine shiver. "Whew, we have a couple of big fucking guys in here, don't we? You guys related in any way?" the boy asked pointing to Kaine and the other tall teen. Got a bit of a mouth on him. Kaine thought. The kid kept his smirk as he looked between Kaine and the other kid, both keeping silent, "C'mon, you guys got in here somehow, right? Big dudes like you gotta have kick ass power."
The tall student began stammering, he seemed just as nervous as Kaine was, "I-I-I um...I was able to hold many robots down with my quirk. And I got fifteen rescue points." the large teen was practically mumbling.
The hot-headed teen nodded, "What about you, Gaijin? How'd you do?"
That comment made Kaine frown, he knew he took more after his mom than whoever his father was, it was obvious from his body shape, and his skin tone. But regardless of that, he definitely never thought of himself as a foreigner or outsider in any way. He grew up on the slum streets in this very city, he probably knew more about it than anybody else in this room. However, wanting not to have confrontations, especially on the first day, Kaine just swallowed a lump in his throat and resorted to only having a slight frown. "I'm no Gaijin, I'm from Musutafu. Been here my whole life."
"No shit!?" the hot-headed teen said with a surprised expression, "Ah, geez. I didn't mean to offend. Half-blood?"
Kaine ignored the last part and just answered the previous question, "I got in mostly from rescue points. I barely got any villain points." Kaine said as he scratched his head.
More students began to pile into the class and take their seats. "Alright, take your seats and shut up." the collective 1-B student body shuddered as their homeroom teacher, Sekijiro Kan, the pro hero Vlad King, entered the room with a commanding presence. Kan walked to his desk and slammed a folder on it, "When I get here I expect all of you to be in class and in your seats. So that means..." Kan stopped and stared at Kaine who was seatless and standing up, "And just what the hell are you doing...Yoshida?" Kan jad to quickly check his folder to make sure he got the name right.
Kaine's whole spine tingled and he began stammering, "W-Well, y-you see, it's pretty clear t-that I don't have a seat...um...should I...sit on the floor?"
Kan looked at his notes again and nodded, "I thought so." he nodded, "Kaine Yoshida. The 'special circumstances' student." he he scoffed, "I don't know what you did, but you did something to impress someone on the staff enough to advocate for you to join the hero course. One look at your written score and you scored one of the worst throughout both classes, perhaps even ever. With a physical exam that was barely passable." Kan stared right at Kaine, making the teen gulp. "Welcome to class. Glad to have you. Don't let the staff down, someone stuck out their neck pretty far for you."
Kaine nodded as he felt sweat starting to drip down his forehead, Great, first day and already all eyes are on me. How could things get any more embarrassing? "For the time being, do you think you could make do?" Kan asked
"OH YO!" Kaine flinched at a somewhat familiar voice as he turned to see the silver haired metal guy from the exams, "Yeah, it is you! The badass guy from the exams that let me take the five points! You can share a seat with me." Kaine slowly shuffled his way to the way too energetic silver haired teen. "Come on, don't be shy, take a seat!" the teen scooted over on the chair and pulled Kaine down so that the two of them both got half a chair. "We're all good, right teach!?" the teen gave a thumbs up and Kan could only sigh in response.
Kan looked at his watch and frowned, "Hold on, I think I forgot something in the staff room. First order of business, you kids get in a circle and tell everyone your quirks. Introduce yourselves."
"Sir," the orange haired girl raised her hand, "Don't we have orientation?"
Kan snapped his fingers, "Right. Um. Welcome to UA, you are here because you were chosen to be here. You are in a school made to mold you into the best of the best, blah-blah-blah...There's your orientation." he nodded, "Now, whether you like it or not, the people around you are your classmates, and your allies. You'll get to know them real well in the years to come. So start off with a simple trust exercise. Introduce yourselves, tell everyone your quirks and weaknesses if you know them. These are people you'll be trusting your life with you know. So if they know what you are bad in there is bound to be someone here who can help fill that gap." Kan looked at his watch again, "Anyways, do that by the time I get back, then we are gonna have a test to see what you learned." and with that Kan left the class alone.
The orange haired girl sighed, "Well, I guess we should sit in a circle and get to know each other." the others seemed to agree right away and began circling up. Everyone was sitting down except Kaine who really didn't want to share a seat with the silver haired guy the whole time, no matter how nice he may be. While they circled up Kaine's eyes drifted to a student who looked normal...except they didn't have a head! It was like, where their head should be they had a comic speech bubble in its place. "Well, I hate to put you on the spot, but since you're standing do you want to start?"
Kaine broke out of his stupor and realized everyone was all staring at him, "Uhhh...yeah. That's fair, I guess." Kaine looked at the others who seemed to be staring at him expectantly, Oh...I'm getting stage fright. he gulped. "Okay...yeah. Um, hi, I'm Kaine Yoshida. My quirk is um...well...I call it 'Spider'. It lets me do whatever a spider can." The students seemed interested and Kaine scratched the back of his head, "Do you guys...want me to show you?"
"Hell yeah!" the silver haired teen cheered, "So you can like, stick to walls and stuff?"
Kaine nodded. "Right, my body is adhesive, so I can stick to most everything." he emphasized by closing his hand and opening it repeatedly. "Um..." Kaine looked up to the ceiling and he crouched, he then jumped up and stuck to the ceiling with his fingertips before swinging his body up and getting in a crouched position on the ceiling. "See." he then flipped down and landed back on the ground. "Um...like spiders I can lift about fifty times by body weight."
"So what is that exactly?" a cocky looking blonde male classmate asked. Just looking at him made Kaine feel as if he'd be trouble.
"Well, I'm about 91 kilos...so, theoretically, I can lift a little over 4,500 kilos." Kaine gained a collection of 'Ohs'. Kaine gulped slightly and he clapped his hands together, "Um, I also can shoot webs." the class went from excited to somewhat curios, others looked grossed out, "Oh! It's not...like...I-I shoot them from my wrists." there was a collective sigh of relief from the students, "Yeah, I have spinnerets in my forearms." Kaine rolled up his left sleeve and extended his arm, he then bent his wrist back and flexed slightly, a small bump forming on his forearm near his wrist, "See, I have, like, an extra muscle...or bone? I'm not really sure myself. But I have this extra muscle here on my forearm, that's my spinneret, it forms the webbing that I can fire out." Kaine then demonstrated his ability by firing a webline at a desk and then pulling it towards him. Again, Kaine gained a collection of 'Ohs' and 'Awes'. "I suppose a weakness of mine is that the strength of my webbing depends on my protein intake, so if I don't have a lot I've found my webs last about an hour. I'm not entirely sure how strong they are, and I'm not really sure how long they could last. Actually, I feel like I barely know my quirk, which is another weakness. And I guess...I get distracted easily."
"What are you talking about?" the silver haired kid asked, "You were super focused during that physical exam!"
The orange haired girl cupped her chin and nodded, "You said earlier most of your points came from rescue points." she mentioned, "You mean you get distracted because you were to focused on others other than the task at hand." Kaine nodded. "Well, on that note I think I'll introduce myself then." the orange haired girl stood up and nodded, "I'm Itsuka Kendo." she greeted, "My quirk is called 'Big Fist.' I can grow my hands at will, it's pretty nice for close quarters combat. So I guess my weakness is if I have to face a long ranged specialist." she smiled.
Kendo pointed to her left and the next student stood up, it was a girl who had pale gray hair that parted to the left, hanging down over her eye and obscuring the majority of the left side of her face. She has dark bags under her blue eyes. What Kaine thought was peculiar was that her hands were being held up as high as her elbows, with her hands draped down, almost like a ghost or some sort of zombie. "Hello, my name is Reiko Yanagi," she said with a really emotionless tone, "My quirk is called 'Poltergeist'. It allows me to telekinetically control nearby objects. Though my limit is only about the weight of a regular human. So it isn't like I can throw a car at someone." she quickly sat down and the next student to the right stood up.
He bowed to everyone, he was lightly tanned skin and fairly ling black hair, reaching roughly down to his shoulders, which he wore in a low braid. His eyes are shaped like those of a reptile, and his irises are notably small. "Hello, my name is Hiryu Rin, and I'm from China. I call my quirk 'Scales'." he said as his left arm began to be completely filled with green scales making his arm look like that of a reptile. "My scales make my attacks stronger, and give me a little more durability. If an enemy is too far away I can also shoot my scales off and hit them that way." Kinda gross. Kaine thought. "A weakness of mine I guess is that, despite being more armored, my defenses can still be broken through with enough force."
"My name is Neito Monama," said the next student. The blonde cocky looking boy from earlier. He was about average height, his hair got shorter the further down his head it goes, styled so that it's parted to the right, his bangs left hanging over his right eye. His irises are a periwinkle blue, and, again, he had a cocky smirk that made Kaine feel uneasy. "My quirk is called 'Copy,' and just like it sounds it allows me to copy the quirk of whoever I touch. I can hold up to four quirks for ten minutes at a time before I have to 'reload' so to speak." he boasted. That's actually a really good quirk. Kaine thought with a nod.
Next to Monama, the tall student stood up, "I'm...I'm Kojiro Bondo." he greeted with nervous tone, "My quirk is 'Cemedine' I can spray out a fast drying glue from these holes," he explained as he pointed to the holes on his face, "I can also control how quick they dry. Um, I guess a weakness of mine is I'm not great at fighting."
"I'm Juzo Honenuki." the next student greeted. He was a pale-skinned young man with angular eyes, mid-length spiked hair of beige color, a flat nose and small eyebrows. His most unusual feature is his teeth, which sit on the outside of his skin. This guy looks kinda...scary. "My quirk is called 'Softening,' it allows me to make any non-living thing I touch become soft, almost like quicksand. I can also have it go back by touching it again. Oh, and I can swim through the objects I've made soft" he explained, "I guess my weakness is that I'm not that strong, but I'm pretty smart. So that should make up for it."
The next student stood up and Kaine's eyes widened, Ah! It's that speech bubble guy! "Hey there guys, the name's Manga Fukidashi!" he greeted. No way. There is no way his parents consciously named him Manga. Kaine had to hold his hand to his mouth to stop himself from smiling. "I call my quirk 'Comic'!" he said enthusiastically, "I can materialize words in midair by speaking them. Specifically onomatopoeia, like this: 'BOOM'." Then, by not too loudly saying the word, Manga formed the word 'BOOM' in a speech bubble in front of him before popping like a small fire cracker.
"Wow, he really lives up to his name." the students said in unison.
The next student was a girl, she was about average height who had surprisingly large, upturned dusky green eyes with long lower eyelashes, and notably long and pointed teeth. Her hair is a dark moss green, collectively reaching just below her shoulders aside from a short clump that hangs in the center of her forehead, and it grew wavier and thinner the lower down it gets. "Heya, all! I'm Setsuna Tokage, and I call my quirk 'Lizard Tail Splitter!'" she said with a smile. The class seemed to have and equal amount of confusion and intrigue on their faces, "It allows me to split up my body into as many as 50 pieces! I am also able to remotely make each and every one of these pieces move freely and levitate through the air at high speeds. Oh! And I can regenerate these pieces if they are destroyed or made , regeneration really takes a lot out of me, so I prefer to just reattach them when I can. Plus, if I reattach the pieces before they go still, then their time limit will reset!" she kept smiling, to some it make seem like she was bragging about her quirk, but Kaine felt she was just confident in her ability.
"That's...absolutely terrifying." Kaine said quietly.
"I'M TETSUTESTU TETSUTETSU!" the silver haired boy yelled out as he stood up to present himself.
"Wait? Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu?" Kaine asked, making sure he got the name right.
"That's right! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu! And my quirk is called 'Steel' I can turn my skin into pure steel and it gives me both an increase in defense and offense! My weaknesses? I don't think I have any!"
"Pretty arrogant, isn't he?" the students said in unison.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Looks like it's my turn." The next student said as he stood up and stretched his body. He was a young man with short brown hair, spiked up at odd angles on his head. His eyes are oval-shaped, along with his large pupils. "The name's Kosei Tsuburaba, my quirk is called 'Solid Air' and just like how it sounds, I can solidify the air I breathe out. My weakness now is...well, I don't really know how strong my quirk is either. I did well in the exam, but some of the robots could break the air walls easily."
Next a short girl stood up, her face framed by thick, wavy blonde hair which reaches halfway down her back, some shorter bangs hanging down her forehead. Her eyes are large and round, Prussian blue in color, and she has a pair of tall,lyre-shaped pale tan horns on her head. Her calves are notably rounded, shaped similarly to those of a horse, and she has brown hooves for feet (Kaine not noticing any sort of shoes on her) and a short horse tail poking out from the end of her tailbone, a slit made in her skirt for comfort. From her stance alone, Kaine could tell she was a timid type, "Um...my name is Pony Tsunotori." she said while shuffling her feet, "I'm from the United States so if I say something wrong, please correct me. My Japanese isn't perfect right now."
"I can help." Kaine and Juzo said in unison. The two students looked at each other with surprised expressions. "You speak English, Kaine?" Juzo asked.
"Yeah, my mom was American." Kaine replied with a nod. The two looked at Pony again and smiled, "We can help." they said in English.
Pony smiled sheepishly, "Thank you." she said quietly, "Um, my quirk is called 'Horn Cannon,' like the name implies I can fire these horns from my head, and they grow back almost immediately. I can also control up to four of them. My weaknesses...well, I'm not very strong, but I'm confident in my speed!"
"Um..." the short chubby student from earlier stood up and bowed, "I'm Nirengeki Shoda. My quirk is called 'Twin Impact' basically, I'm able to remotely strike something a second time after I hit it. The bonus is that when it hits it is several times stronger than the previous attack. A weakness if mine...well, I'm not very fast." Everyone seemed to mumble in agreement, "Oh c'mon, you guys didn't have to make that obvious!"
The next student to stand was a moderately tall young man with a very beastly appearance...like...big foot sort if beastly. He has shaggy, brown, hair, covering most of his body. He has sharp teeth and his large jaw sticks out a fair amount, with two of his lower canines poking upwards from between his lips. He also wears small, rectangular glasses with thick black lenses. "I'm Jurota Shishida," the boy said as he adjusted his glasses, "My quirk is called 'Beast,' I believe you can see why. However, this is just my quirk in its calmest possible state. When I actually fully activate my quirk I can grow tremendously in size and it increases my senses, strength and durability. My weakness is that when my quirk is activated I become a little reckless, my moves are less calculated."
The girl who had the long green hair now stood and bowed, "Hello everyone. I look forward to our time in class together." she said with a soft voice, "My name is Ibara Shiozaki. My quirk is called 'Vines' gives me hair-like vines that you see on my head. I can lengthen and manipulate the vines, allowing me to attack, defend and grapple. I also have the ability to detach them at will. The vines will grow back...eventually...provided I make sure mg head receives proper sunlight and water. So I guess a weakness of mine mostly comes from when my vines detatch."
"H-Hello..." the short girl with the bob stood up. She was very quiet and seemed extremely shy, "M-My name is Kinoko Komori. M-My quirk is called 'Mushroom,' it allows me to spread fungus from my body. I don't have many strengths, but I have a lot of weaknesses." she quickly sat back down. Yeah, I feel like that's the best we'll get out of her. Kaine thought with a nod.
Next was the quiet girl with the black hair that was sitting with the group. As she stood up Kaine could feel her cool demeanor from across the circle, "My name is Yui Kodai. My quirk is called 'Size.' It allows me to alter the size of non-living objects that I've touched. My weaknesses mainly lie with my battle prowess."
Next was a peculiar student who was a somewhat tall young man with fluffy white hair and black eyes, which are long and thin in shape. His most prominent feature is his pitch black skin, like shadow black. "My name is Shihai Kuroiro. Yes, my skin is like this because of my quirk. My quirk is called 'Black.' I can merge my body with anything naturally dark or made dark through other circumstances. My weakness is that right now I'm really only good as a reconiscence type. My strength isn't great and my intelligence is average. But...I have good battle instincts."
"That's kinda cool though." Kaine said quietly, but accidently just loud enough for others to hear.
"Yeah!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, "You could totally be like spy hero or something! Like espionage, and other cool spy flick stuff."
"Honestly you two," Kendo sighed, "The enthusiasm is great, but let's try to keep things to an indoor voice?" Kaine shrugged, Wasn't that just Tetsutetsu though?
The next student was very peculiar as he was a tall, slender young man with pale yellow-green skin (about the height of Kaine and Kojiro) and a bright, fluffy green mohawk. His dark green eyes are pointed downwards to the center of his face, and two hooked blades jut out from either of his cheeks. He has no visible nose, and the shape of his head resembles that of praying mantis with mandibles. "I'm Togaru Kamakiri. I can create blades all over my body. I don't have any weaknesses." he frowned. Kaine could tell he was definitely THE hothead of the class.
The next student seemed nicer, he was a medium height with dark, shaggy hair, and dark eyes, which are rather thin and lazy-looking. He seems to have a modest athletic build, the same as most of Kaine's classmates, and a slight tan. "I'm Sen Kaibara," he greeted, "My quirk is called 'Gyrate,' and it allows me to spin any part of my body at rapid speeds like a drill." he said with a smile as he demonstrated his quirk by rotating his hand at high speeds. Actually a pretty interesting quirk. Kaine thought as he watched in awe, "I'm not really sure what my weaknesses are, but I'm sure they're there."
Finally, it circled around to the loud student who first interacted with Kaine in the doorway before class. "Name's Yosetsu Awase!" he said excitedly, making Kendo sigh because he clearly forgot about the inside voice agreement, "I got third highest villain count on the entrance exams and I have a good control over my quirk! OH! My quirk is called 'Weld' and like the name sounds I can fuse objects together at an atomic level!"
Kaine's eyes widened in surprise, "That's actually insane. At an atomic level? Can you fuse people?"
"I probably could, but I haven't tried. I don't like to think about people's skin fusing together." Awase said with a wave of his hands. Good call. Kaine nodded. "Oh, I guess a weakness I have is that I'm not that strong. But I make up for it with everything else!"
"And you talk like a sailor." Kendo mumbled. "Alright everyone, I think that's good. We really got to know each other. Some of us could work on communication better but it's just the first day." she said with a smile, "I look forward to being in class with all of you."
As Kendo finished her small spiel, the door to the class opened again and in walked Kan. "Those looks you're giving me better mean that you're done and have introduced yourselves." The class gave resounding agreements while nodding their heads furiously. "Good. Then I hope you wrote all that information down. We are going to have ourselves a small test." he grinned.
Despite being told they were having a test of some sort, Kan had given 1-B their PE uniforms: a blue, short sleeved, tracksuit that had a white U around their collarbone area. Under that was a white A that stretched down and connected sith the pants portion that went down to the ankles. Kan had then lead the students out to a field on campus just away from the building. There he had them stand in a group while he faced them. "Um, sir, not that I mind being outside as much as the next guy, but didn't you say you were giving us a test?" Tetsutetsu asked, voicing the general confusion of the class.
"Right you are Tetsutetsu," Kan confirmed as he pointed to the teen with his pen before going back to his clipboard and making a note of something. "Now, because I took so long, I apologize, we are going to condense this test into one segment. But everyone will participate somehow." he explained, "Now, assuming you were acting as classmates and trusted each other, you would have learned each other's quirks, strengths, and weaknesses. So, I will be choosing two students at random and they will duke it out in a 1v1 spar. Utilize what you know. Exploit their weaknesses, analyze the extent of their quirk. This will give you a good idea of having to outwit your opponent. Now, those who don't get picked, talk amongst yourselves. Who has the advantage? What can the other do to win? You'll act as 'support' for both sides. This will test what you learned from your classmates and also help with your cooperation skills." The students began murmuring amongst each other, wondering who will bee picked.
"Okay," Kan scratched his nose, "How about we have...Tokage! Yoshida! Get up here." Kaine straightened up a little in surprise, Wait me!?
"Ahhh yeah!" Tokage cheered, "Let's go spider, show me what you've got!"
Kaine and Tokage walked out to a fairly open field and faced each other, standing roughly fifteen meters apart. "You two will spar. There will be no time limit. The fight ends when one of you calls it quits or I think you are getting your ass kicked too hard. Are you ready?"
"Wait," Kaine called out. He turned to Kan and his classmates with a worried expression, "How do I fight her? She's a girl?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tokage asked, putting her hands on her hips and frowning.
"What? Don't give me that look. I was always told growing up that it's wrong to hit girls!" Kaine defended.
"True. Dad used to tell me that too." Awase said with a nod.
Kan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "You've gotta be kidding me."
"And another thing," Kaine continued, "Um...I've actually never hit a person before." Again, Kan sighed in disappointment. "And I don't know the extent of my strength I could..." Kaine thought back to the exam and how the second he lost his cool and threw a punch out of fear he destroyed the robots arm in one go. With that in mind, he gulped, "Oh god...I could kill her."
Kan took a deep breath and nodded, "Well, I guess you'll just be taking her punches won't you? So better learn to control your quirk against another human fast, lest you get your ass kicked."
"Oh, I'm going to have fun!" Tokage gave a huge grin as she slammed her fist into her palm. Kaine gulped, Ah crap.
Chapter 3: Expectation and Reality
Expectation and Reality
Kaine stood facing Setsuna, nervous as to who would make the first move. Likely Setsuna, but that doesn't mean Kaine can't just web her to the ground or something. Okay, think. Um...she can split her body into up to fifty pieces. So I just have subdue the core of her body and wait it out until her pieces go still. I can worry about having to actually hit her late- "HURK!" Kaine's thoughts were put to hold as Setsuna had taken the time to rush and make the first move by sending a side kick to his gut. Oh...I guess I should pay attention. Kaine lifted up his hands to defend himself as Setsuna began laying in a barrage of kicks and punches.
"C'mon, Kaine! Show us what you're made of!" Setsuna yelled out as she threw punch after punch, Kaine protecting his head, but getting hit in the sides or gut. "For someone who has such a cool quirk, you sure as hell don't seem to want to use it. If you wanna stand around looking cute, I know a hairstylist that could use a model to advertise her business!"
"Does it pay well?" Kaine asked as a joke, just trying to keep on Setsuna's pace in someway. Setsuna smirked and finally broke Kaine's guard. Kaine tried to quickly react by throwing a straight kick, but Setsuna dodged the attack, grabbing his leg and leaning into a counter throw. When she threw Kaine, he rolled on the ground a little bit before sliding to a stop and getting back on his feet.
Kan rubbed his temples and sighed, "Okay, class. Tell me, who here has the advantage?"
"From what we learned about the two," Shoda began, "Kaine has a clear advantage in strength. And he could also ensnare his opponent in his webbing." Webbing? Kan thought with a curious expression, "Tokage has a strange and interesting quirk, but she seems to have an advanced understanding of her quirk as well as battle sense, which Kaine doesn't have."
"Where Kaine should have a clear and obvious advantage, it is lost because he doesn't know his quirk like Tokage knows hers." Monoma added, "On top of that, Kaine is too nice. He doesn't want to hurt his opponent even if they are attacking him. Heh, it's a miracle he made here in the first place."
"Cut him some slack," Juzo added, "Tokage is ahead of the game, she's arguably the most skilled person here. Probably could have been in Class A." he scoffed, "I mean, that's why you're having this spar, right? You put the top ranked student in the class against the bottom of the class, see where the latter stands?"
Kendo cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "Wait, why are you so confident about Tokage's abilities? We all just met today, didn't we?"
"She was picked by official recommendation like me. That's why I'm sure." Juzo explained. The rest of the class seemed more surprised than anything at the revelation that two of the students in their class were from recommendations.
Back to the spar, Kaine got back up to his feet and started running through ideas in his head. Okay, clearly she has some sort of fighting experience. She hasn't yet used her quirk against me, but that probably means she's waiting for me to use my quirk first. Kaine took a deep breath and got into his boxing stance and began to strafe. Setsuna saw this and began strafing as well, "Finally getting into it, huh? Let's see that skill!" Kaine frowned and clicked his tongue. I could probably just bum rush her. If I can subdue her main core then I win. I'm a lot stronger than her (presumably) so I can catch her off guard and just win in a wrestling match. Kaine took deep breath and nodded, Okay. Let's get psyched.
Kaine stopped strafing and dashed forward. Well, he was right about one thing: Setsuna definitely wasn't ready for it. Kaine dove forward and tackled Setsuna to the ground and put her in a VERY SLOPPY half nelson headlock, that he saw used once in a wrestling match that was on the tv in the background when he was studying for tests in middle school. "Wow, you actually got touchy feely." Setsuna quipped, "Very surprised, you seemed so shy, but you're actually a woman hounding perv, huh?"
Perv? Kaine thought, the surprise made him lose his grip slightly which allowed Setsuna to break free of his grip and try and roll away. As she was rolling, Kaine panicked because he realized the moment she escaped he wouldn't be able to get in close like he did before the next time. In his panic, Kaine aimed both his hands forward and fired two weblines, hoping to connect to Setsuna as she rolled. He missed with both. "Son of a bitch." Kaine cursed in English making Pony gasp and Juzo pinch the bridge of his nose. The two weblines crossed each other and missed Setsuna completely.
When Setsuna rolled back to her feet she turned around and saw the weblines narrowly missing her on either side, "Wow, pretty bad shot, ain't ya?" she said with a smile.
"Wow, pretty bad aim, huh?" the class said in agreement.
"Oh, give me a break! I've never tried to hit a moving target before!" Kaine defended. He turned back to Setsuna and dodged just in time to avoid a piece of her detached body that came flying towards him. Great, just as I thought, she was waiting until I used my quirk myself. Now I don't have the element of surprise and I have to deal with multiple pieces of herself that she can manipulate and move at rapid speeds. Kaine's point was proven when the piece of Setsuna's body that just dodged came back and smacked him in the back of the head before reconnecting to her body. This is going to be difficult.
"Credit where credit is due, you definitely have a grip. I don't think you were kidding about how strong you are, but," she smirked, "You're too nice. It's cute, really, but remember, being nice doesn't help you." Setsuna then broke her body apart into multiple parts leaving her torso and head to float. THAT'S HER CORE! Kaine's eyes widened and he knew where his goal was. Setsuna immediately began firing her pieces at Kaine and he did his best to block them while he thought of a plan.
"Update, who has the advantage?" Kan asked his class again.
"Still Tokage." Shiozaki replied, "Kaine has a massive strength advantage still, but that doesn't matter when he's a close quarters fighter and Setsuna can continuously keep him at bay. Unless he can stop her with his webbing, he'll be at a continuous disadvantage."
Think, Kaine. How do I get out of this situation? Kaine thought as he was pummeled repeatedly by the different pieces of Setsuna's body. It hurts but I can definitely take it. Kaine peeked over his arms and spotted Setsuna's torso floating in the distance. Kaine, not wanting to have to give chase, tried his first strategy of firing his webs at her. He missed with his left hand, but he managed to attach the webline in his right hand. YES! Kaine yanked hard, surprising Setsuna by his force as her torso was pulled toward him. "Awe, you're shooting your white stuff on me. I should be flattered. But you forgot to ask consent!" One of Setsuna's detached hands formed a fist and flew into Kaine's jaw and made him let go from the shock. "Let's make sure you don't do that again," her detached hands flew and planted a firm grip on Kaine's wrists, blocking off the exit for his webbing, "Keep it in your hands!"
Her ability to quip on the fly is something to be admired. I wish I had a tenth of that level of confidence. Kaine tried to pull the hands off his wrists, but Setsuna had an extreme iron grip. Fine, I'll leave that. He then decided to focus on trying to get a hold of Setsuna. Now that her hands are on me...that means she's down to 48 pieces left. As he's deep in thought to make a strategy he is continually being hammered by Setsuna's body pieces. "Durable thing, aren't ya?" Setsuna mentioned with a smirk. 48 pieces, one of them has to be her core, that means 47 pieces. I'm durable, she's got force but a couple of bruises aren't anything to me compared to that robot from the exams. he shuddered at the thought.
Kaine then noticed that some of Setsuna's pieces were reconnecting to her before coming back. I see, she's restarting the time she has which means... he looked at the hands gripped to his wrists and smirked, These will go still soon. Kaine grabbed the hands and gave one last try to rip them off his wrists, and to his delight, they did. "Looks like you'll have to wait to regrow those now, huh?" Kaine, now more confident, began batting the body pieces down before holding up his left hand and placing his right thumb to his wrist, "WEB NET!" he shouted out as he fired his webbing that spread out wide like a net and capturing the other body pieces.
"WHAT!?" Setsuna yelled out in surprise.
Kaine held out both hands and shot weblines behind Setsuna's floating body and launched himself towards her at a high speed, tackling her again. "THERE! I HAVE YOU NOW!" Kaine laughed, "You kept your hands on me for too long and you left yourself defenseless. Looks like you've been outsmarted."
Setsuna struggled slightly, "Yeah, it really seems that way."
Wow, kid actually did it? Kan thought in surprise.
"But," Setsuna continued with a laugh, "You made a mistake. I didn't let my guard down. I baited you into a trap." she explained, "You were so durable, able to take a beating from all of my pieces, I had to make you put down your guard so I could exploit your weakness. The one you never told anyone."
"What are you talking about?" Kaine asked.
"The one weakness every guy has." Setsuna smiled, "Also, I fooled you. My body pieces can be detached for longer than a couple minutes, closer to seven or eight." Suddenly, everyone saw the two detached hands float up and fly to the two combatants at high speeds, one connected to Setsuna's right arm and she looked up at Kaine's face and waved, "Sorry." Kaine's eyes widened as he saw the other hand move at rapid speeds. He tried to defend himself, but it was too late.
He felt a severe blow to his nether region and he immediately let go of Setsuna's torso before dropping to his knees in pain, his breath barely leaking out. "OH!" all the male students yelled out, Tetsutetsu unconsciously activating his quirk.
"You left your belt open." Setsuna laughed. Kaine finally fell to his stomach, holding his groin in pain as he let out light groans. Meanwhile, Setsuna lifted the net off her body parts and reconnected everything back to her. "Oh, much better. Have to admit though, you had a solid strategy. Even though it involved you taking a beating for so long."
Kan sighed rubbed his face, Unbelievable. It was so obvious she was baiting him. "How are you feeling, Yoshida?"
"Uuuuuugh...that was SO not cool." Kaine groaned in pain.
Kan nodded his head in understanding, "Yeah, that seems about right. Well, we should call it there. The lot of you should start heading to your next classes."
The students shrugged their shoulders and began to make their way to their next classes, "Too bad, really thought he had it." Tetsutetsu said, "I mean, he looked so cool for those last thirty seconds, right? He totally captured all her pieces and he was able to subdue her!"
"Probably could have actually subdued her if he just webbed her to the ground." Shoda mentioned.
"Or made sure the hands were actually still." Monoma chuckled.
Setsuna ran up to Kaine and crouched by him, "Good job. You didn't do too bad for someone who's never fought before." she chuckled as she gave him a pat on the head, "Get well soon, okay! Sorry about the low blow!"
Again, Kaine could only groan in pain. "Don't worry, Yoshida. I'll stay here until you feel good enough to walk." Kan said as he started marking things down in his notepad. Kaine gave a thumbs up and continued to hold his groin in pain.
When Kaine was feeling good and well, he eventually went to the rest of his classes, with Kan giving him a slip letting the other teachers know he was recovering. Meanwhile, Kan took the information he gathered from the fight and walked himself to the staff room. Kid did a little better than I thought, but he definitely needs a lot of work. He needs to learn to think on the fly. He took too much time making a plan or forming a strategy that any other opponent would kill him. he sighed, He started having good ideas at the end there though. So at least there was some sort of positive.
Kan opened up the door to see two of his co-workers. The first was Shota Aizawa, the hero known as Eraser Head, as well as the homeroom teacher to 1-A. He was a slender and tall, pale-skinned man with messy, shoulder-length black hair that partially hung in front of his face and often half-opened black eyes. The whole time Kan has known him, he always had a worn-out appearance, often looking fatigued. His facial hair remains unkempt, and his eyes almost always looked tired and flat. He also was a notoriously difficult teacher, expelling anyone from his class he deems to not be up to snuff. But this year he seemed to be impressed by the current crop as he had expelled none of them.
The other teacher was All Might, except in his 'Powered Down' form. All Might had gotten badly injured a few years prior and because of that he uses too much energy when in the powered form everyone recognizes him for. Now he can only go three hours a day in his powered form lest he sustain greater injury, or lower his life expectancy. In his current powered down form, All Might looks like a very skinny man with sharp, angular features and long limbs, his neck long and his eyebrows absent, and it is not uncommon for him to spout blood from his mouth when excited or surprised. He typically wears baggy clothing to accommodate the change in body mass between forms. His typical teaching uniform was a golden suit with vertical black stripes as well as a white button down shirt and blue neck tie.
"Aizawa, All Might." Kan greeted as he sat down at his desk. Kan began typing in his computer when he looked up to Aizawa and smirked, "So, you must have a good batch this year. Since you didn't get rid of them like last year."
Aizawa briefly looked up to Kan and grunted, "They were just barely above the bar."
"You still upset you didn't get the kid?" Kan asked. Aizawa stopped typing for a quick bit before continuing without saying a word, "Well, I got some news. Had him do a round with one of the top students. He was sloppy, he took too long to react at times, he likes to take a beating...BUT, he has some decent instincts when pushed into a corner. I mean, he still lost but...he is going to need work. A lot of work."
"What? Aizawa WANTED a student?" All Might asked, genuinely surprised, "I didn't think you'd stick your neck out that far."
"Yeah, well...kid impressed me." Aizawa grunted, "More than some of the students in my class. One in particular, especially." Aizawa turned to All Might and stared at him for a couple of seconds, "Anyways, perhaps I was wrong then. Maybe he needs more work. He seemed fine during the exam. What happened?"
"Kid's never thrown a punch at someone before. He doesn't even know the extent of his quirk." Kan explained, "I think he's too nice myself, he refused to throw a punch at the student he was sparring because he believed he could kill her. OH! And get this, he didn't want to fight her because 'Hitting girls is wrong'."
"HA!' All Might let out a light laugh, some blood coming from his mouth, "Seems like you have yourself quite the gentleman. What did you see in the kid anyways, Aizawa?"
Aizawa grunted again and blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes, "I saw potential, I saw a lot of potential. He has a natural innate hero instinct that you only see in someone every couple of decades. He helped everyone he could, and his 'Bad Grades' for the entrance exam? It was a low B. Now, assume he did that poorly because of pressure, if his mental capacity under pressure is a low B then he is very calm. I'd still trade that kid for at least five of the students in my class...despite how some have surprised me." Aizawa finished what he was working on and stood up, "Maybe in the end Class B was the perfect choice for him. So he can better understand himself. That being said, Kan, I expect that kid to be well trained by the sports festival. I may need some of my students to be humbled." And with that Aizawa left, giving Kan a very uncharacteristic, and almost scary looking, smile.
"Woah." All Might said with a slightly surprised expression, "Did you see his face? That was super terrifying wasn't it?"
Kan let out a slight smirk as he began typing his report.
At lunch, Kaine, Tetsutetsu, Monama, Juzo, and Tsuburaba all sat together. The teens had been getting along quite well, since most of them were in the same classes as each other. Tetsutetsu seemed to be the one who tried to make friends the quickest thanks to his...excitable personality. "Hey Kaine, about that sparring match earlier, how are you holding up?"
Kaine, along with the other teens at the table, shuddered. "I...I think I have a bigger fear of her quirk now than I did before." he gulped, "And I think I don't ever want to fight her again."
"Ah, that's no way to be thinking." Juzo stated as he took a bite of his food, "You have solid instincts, you're just skiddish."
"Yeah, plus you totally tanked a bunch of her hits before that. You must be made of titanium or something." Tsuburaba complimented.
"Logically speaking," Monoma continued, "You were far out of your league anyways, Tokage is a recommended student after all. So the fact that you even got close to her is a miracle in itself. Maybe you're incredibly lucky."
"HA!" Kaine let out a fake laugh before eating his lunch, being careful not to eat it too fast despite how hungry he was. "I'm a lot of things, 'lucky' is not one of them. Believe me."
The group continued eating in silence until Juzo spoke up again, "You know, I don't mean to burst whatever bubble you have left...but you probably could have beat her if you just webbed her up instead of holding onto her."
Kaine dropped his chopsticks and stared at Juzo with an astonished...and heartbroken...expression. He then pushed his tray away before rubbing his face and groaning. Kaine then began slamming his head against the table, lamenting himself for not thinking of that at the time. "GOD DAAAAAAMMIIIIIT!" he yelled out in English.
Across the way, a few tables down, the girls of 1-B were sitting together in a group and watched the event unfold. "Oh, poor guy." Setsuna laughed, "You know, he almost had me. I was kinda surprised."
Kendo looked up from her food and cocked her eyebrow, "How do you mean? Didn't you say you planned the whole thing?"
"Well sure. But that doesn't mean it would work. I just got lucky from his inexperience, and his niceness." she giggled, "But he easily could have won had he just webbed me to the ground or something. He's a cheeky one. He told us his quirk but didn't say how strong that webbing was. It really sticks to you and is hard to get off."
"Well, kilo for kilo, spider's silk is stronger than steel." Yui said quietly.
"Oh well, there is a good thing about falling on the first day," Setsuna said as she took a long drink from her milk, "Only way left to go is up."
At the end of the day, Kaine as well as the rest of the student body got out of the first day of classes and began to happily head home. Kaine was at the front gate ready to start leaving when he felt an arm wrap around his neck, "YO, YOSHIDA!" it was Tetsutetsu, somehow Kaine wasn't surprised. "Are you in any hurry right now? I was thinking of hitting up the arcade. Be cool if I had a buddy there that I could school in the point boards."
Kaine let out a slight smile. I mean, he probably would, I don't think I've played a modern arcade game in years except for maybe a racing game because how often do they change those? "Sorry Tetsutetsu, I'm gonna have to pass. I have work today. Even if I could go, I haven't gotten paid, I'm flat broke." Bit of a white lie, but it's also technically the truth.
"Ah, seriously? That's a bummer. I didn't think you'd have a job." Tetsutetsu said with a frown, "Man, you're like...really mature, huh?"
This time Kaine let out a loud snort, "Am I now?" he laughed, "I feel pretty normal. Wouldn't say I'm any more or less mature than someone else. I watch tv, I play games when I have time, I like candy, I read comics and manga. I say I'm a pretty average teen."
Tetsutetsu rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but you work. You have an actual job. How many 15/16 year olds have jobs?"
Kaine crossed the street and began walking up the hill and Tetsutetsu did the same, "I'd assume quite a few that aren't in the hero course." Kaine replied. He stopped at a crosswalk and grabbed Tetsutetsu as he passed him and yanked back so the teen didn't get hit by a car. "Are you okay walking this far out? I've got like a twenty-five minute walk."
"Twenty-five minutes?" Tetsutetsu asked in surprise, "That's insane, why not take the bus?"
Kaine shrugged his shoulders, "I like the exercise." he laughed, "It's not bad, get to see a bit of the city."
Tetsutetsu scratched his head in thought. He then stopped and grabbed Kaine by the collar when he saw a building that caught his eye, "Dude, how about this?" he grabbed Kaine's face and turned it to the building he was looking at, "Batting cages man! These places are like a physical arcade. If you hit the homerun targets they usually give you some kind of prize."
"That's fine, but I told you, I don't have money." Kaine pulled out his pockets for emphasis, "See? Nothing but a broken phone and wallet full of empty dreams."
"Dude, relax, it's like ¥1,000 for 20 pitches. I can pay for you!" Tetsutetsu smiled.
He's awfully persistent isn't he? "N-No, I can't let you do that. It wouldn't be right. Plus I don't want to owe you." Kaine replied with a frown.
"WHAT? Owe me? Dude, it's ¥1,000 It's really no big deal. C'mon!" And with that, Tetsutetsu dragged Kaine into the batting center so that the two of them could hit some balls.
"Man, Tetsutetsu is one persistent dude." Kaine said to himself as he walked home after his batting cage session with the steel teen. "I mean, the guy really goes at his own pace too. I feel like I'm tripping over my feet trying to keep up." Kaine smiled as he thought back to earlier in the day, when he met everyone in class, "But...him like the others are pretty cool. Mostly everyone seems really nice, and I was actually able to hold a conversation with a few of them. They are pretty nice." be chuckled.
When Kaine finally made it back to The Sinkhole, he noticed something peculiar on the border of the district. He saw an old abandoned building, one that had been that way for decades, finally being vacated. But not by residents, a bunch of contractors looked to be going in. Putting up a fence around the area with a sign that said 'Yoshii Realtors' and 'La Grande Construction'. Weird, this place has been left alone for years, why suddenly start making changes? Kaine shrugged, "Maybe this'll be good for the community. Less abandoned buildings means we may actually get some focus put on us from the city."
When Kaine he, as usual, was greeted by the sight of Miss Kumonosu rocking in her chair, "Hey, Ōya-san!" Kaine called out, "I just saw some contractors starting to do work on one of those abandoned buildings on the edge of the district. That sounds pretty cool, right?" Kaine received a slight grunt in return, "Come on, doesn't that sound good? We could get some serious focus on the district."
"I'm well aware what it could mean, young Kaine." Kumonosu said with a dry tone. "Let me tell you something, something real. Those abandoned buildings, they didn't mean anything, they've been on the market forever. Nobody bothered to buy them until the original owner passed and they could buy through the city. When that happened they got the buildings for less than nothing." she explained, "They aren't going to get anybody in them yet, they know that. This is The Sinkhole, nobody gets out when they get in. But some people believe. What you saw is only the tip of the metaphorical iceburg. They snagged up the abandoned buildings, but you know what? They are picking up complexes that are currently lived in too. Mifune, a couple of blocks down, sold her complex to that 'Yoshii Reality' too. It was an offer too good to refuse."
"So what does that mean? It's not like they can do anything other than manage the building. Japanese Tenants laws make it impossible for them to do anything." Kaine rebuttaled.
"Unless they leave by their own volition." Miss Kumonosu added, "Tell me Kaine, if you were offered a large sum of money, would you leave?"
Kaine shook his head, "Are you kidding? Money would eventually run out, and I'd still have to find another place to live. I'd be out of money within a couple months."
"Exactly!" Kumonosu exclaimed, "You get it because you were born here. Raised and molded by The Sinkhole. You know the ins and outs. But these poor people, not all of them are like your or me. They are so desperate to claw their way out that the very moment a chance comes along that just offers them money they'll take it. It may not even be a whole lot of money, maybe a couple hundred thousand. People can't live off that, not for long. They'll eventually have no where to go, they'll be eaten alive. And when the one place that was left would be there to save you is gone...you'll perish.
"That's what's going to happen with the buildings, Kaine." Kumonosu said with a frown, "They are going to buy up the land and rebuild it in their favor, they'll do anything to get us 'undesirables' out. The city will likely turn away too, because they want this place gone as much as the average person. We don't generate revenue, and we're an eyesore to the rest of the city. Mark my words, Kaine. The Sinkhole's day of reckoning will come. And nobody, not the police or hero, will come to protect it or its people." Kumonosu sighed, "I'm sorry. That got depressing. Today was your first day of school. How was it? Meet anyone interesting? Any girls?"
"Yeah you could say I met a few...didn't exactly go how you'd think though." Kaine chuckled.
"Oh no," Kumonosu laughed, "Did you fumble over your words, or did she catch you looking?"
Kaine blushed in embarrassment, "No! Not like that! We had a spar today and I had to fight a girl. I've never fought anyone before, especially not a girl. I had no idea what to do." he cringed, "Then I got punched really hard in the groin. It's kinda not fair that I had to fight a girl on the first day, like, what if I hurt her?"
"Oh quit being such a little bitch." Kumonosu scolded as she hit Kaine on the head with her cane, "You are all there for the same reason. To become heroes. To protect the people of the city. It isn't like you went and assaulted her. When you fight a combatant you have to treat them with the respect they deserve. Always think that they are on the same level as you, never any different!" she rubbed her temples in frustration, "Unbelievable, all those comics of yours and not once have you seen a female character fighting against a man? Pull your head out your ass, the next time you go against an opponent throw a damn punch whether they are a man or woman. If you are worried about killing someone then hold back, all heroes have to do it." she sighed, "I shouldn't have to tell you this, you should know this from all those heroes you watch or read about."
Kaine blinked a few times in surprise, "Um...thanks Ōya-san. I'll...I'll remember that." Kaine rubbed the back of his head and smiled, "I'll put my things down and get to work." Kumonosu gave a simple 'Mm-hm' and Kaine walked up to his apartment.
Ōya-san is right. I should have realized it after today. My classmates, and any female hero really, are likely to be strong in some way. Kaine thought with a nod, So I need to always assume the worst. Kaine put the kettle on and shot a webline to the ceiling so he could flip his body upside down and yo-yo. "Hell, my groin can already tell me those girls can be dangerous, and not in the good way!" he snickered, "Making a dirty joke like that, I'm awful." Kaine quickly smacked his face and tried to refocus his thinking, "The point is, these girls are heroes in training just like me. And that means they mean business. Hell, who am I to be worried. Setsuna was literally recommended, that's way above me. I need to show them the respect they deserve!"
The first day of classes were now over. Kaine had an idea of what to expect from this school, now he can focus on truly becoming a hero.