Chapter Text
Neito plugged the speaker into his phone before standing up and pressing play. He took a deep breath before starting to sing and dance. “Hermes?” Switching to his best attempt at a British accent for Hermes, he continued after skipping toward the door. “Ahahaha! Hello, old friend!” He turned around and cocked his head, returning to his first voice. “So you’re the one who talked to Calypso. Why’re you here?”
Neito held his hands out. “You’re being given a final option. Consider this your one last chance. To make it back home and abandon caution; wash it away like the blood your hands have known!” He spun around, leaned back, and continued. “I know if you dance with fate, then I know you’ll enhance your state!”
His countenance turned to one of distrust. “If your plan’s so great, then why’d you wait to say it?” He held up a finger. “Well, it’s a little bit dangerous, my friend!” He grabbed a desk and let himself lean forward. “You’ll need a mindset change for this! You cannot get away with playing it safe for this.” He let go and stood up, wrapping his arm around a non-existent someone’s shoulders. “You wanna get home? Put it all on the line!” He spun around a desk. “And put your whole brain in it, remember every trick in your domain for this.” He did a backflip onto a desk, almost falling off. “You gotta treat it like it’s the main event! You wanna get home? Put it all on the line!” He kicked his feet up and did a minute twirl. “Be dangerous.”
Neito jumped onto a different desk and rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’m in. What do I do?” Neito started leaping from desk to desk. “First stop, uncharted waters.” After the next stop, he gestured upward. “When lost, look towards the sky.” He pointed upward and north. “Follow the North Star, no matter how far-” He did a flip onto the ground. “-You think you're going, you keep on rowing. When strangers lurk around the isle,” he grinned. “When danger greets you with a smile, Fight your way through, do what you must do. But no matter what, keep moving!”
“It’s going to b-” someone started before coughing, leading Neito to look over at the door to find one Minoru Mineta. He pressed pause on the song. Walking over, he asked, “Hey, hey, you good?”
Mineta gave Neito a toothy grin. “Heh heh, sorry! You looked so cool! I wanted to sing too haha!”
Neito smiled happily at the praise. “Thanks! And you're fine, don't worry! You can still join.” He pressed play and gestured at Mineta, as if to say ‘continue your line.’
Mineta took a deep breath and continued in a rather off-key voice after a cough, “-going to be dangerous my friend!”
Neito grinned and threw his arms into the air. “You'll need a mindset change for this!”
Mineta pulled his arms inward and stuttered. “Y-you cannot get away with playing safe for this!”
Neito does a small twirl, moving away from Mineta and toward the front of the classroom. “You wanna get home?”
Mineta took a deep breath, now red-faced and sweating. It was… slightly concerning. “Put it all on the line!”
…was he okay? “And put your whole brain in it!”
Mineta’s voice cracked. “Remember every trick in your domain for this!”
Neito picked up a pencil, tossed it in the air and caught it after it spun. “You gotta treat it like it is the main event!”
Mineta took another deep breath, still sweating but now with a large grin. “You wanna get home?”
Neito returned the grin. “Put it all on the line!”
““Be dangerous!”” they finished.
Mineta broke into a big smile, his odd enthusiasm noticeable. “Wow! You were awesome!”
Neito smiled back. “Thanks! So were you!” He dug into his bag and tossed Mineta a small bottle of water. He was running low on stuff… Ah, well. He had a bigger allowance to replace it now.
Mineta hopped up and caught the bottle, drinking a bit and jumping in place. “You do lessons or something, right?”
“Yep!” Neito cackled just a tiny bit before drinking some blood from his own metal bottle, his head pounding.
Mineta continued to look at Neito with an odd look. Not malevolent, just rather… innocent, he supposed. That couldn’t be it though. “Woah! That’s awesome heh heh! Maybe you can teach me one day!”
“Maybe! Not sure if I'd be a good teacher…” He stroked his chin in thought. “I can try though.”
Mineta continuing smiling. “That’s alright! You don’t have to worry about teaching me heh heh! Oh! I remember! Could I get your phone number? My SIM card broke a while ago!”
“Yep, yep. Fine by me,” Neito responded, taking the offered phone and entering his contact information under Neito Nado-Hunt . Mineta quicklly thanked him. “No problem!”
Mineta glanced at his phone and cried out. “Ah, man! I lost track of time!” He let out a laugh. “Could you tell me where class 1-A is?” Shouldn’t he know..? He’s been going there for over a month at this point. Something was up… Eh.
“Sure! Or I could just show you there, bit hard to describe paths in this place,” Neito explained.
Mineta agreed enthusiastically.
“…Though this is faster.” Neito decided, picking up Mineta and sprinting toward 1-A, careful not to touch his head balls. Mineta let out a cry of surprise at that.
They reached the classroom and Neito set him down. Mineta turned to Neito with a silly grin on his face. “Thanks, Neito!”
Well now. The odd un-Mineta-like personality, the not knowing where 1-A was, the using first names. Minoru here was probably a reincarnator. Probably. “You're welcome, Minoru!”
Minoru smiled as he went into 1-A, waving at Neito, whom waved back before departing for 1-B.
It was a prime time to apologize to Todoroki, Neito decided. So when he entered the classroom, alongside Will, he called out to him.
“Hey To-” Todoroki, not Tom. “Todoroki, could I talk to you for a second?” Neito asked. Will turned to face him, while Todoroki narrowed his eyes.
“About what?” the son of Endeavor asked. Neito glanced at Will for a moment. He supposed his presence didn’t matter.
Neito walked up to Shoto and bowed. “I'd like to apologize for Wednesday.”
His eyes remained narrowed and he inquired in an aggressive tone, “What are you apologizing for, exactly?”
Neito paused. Was it not clear what he was apologizing for? He supposed since Todoroki was asking it was not. “Unintentionally…” He paused once more. He forgot the word and muttered. “Minimizing… Is that the word?” He resumed a normal voice. “Minimizing what you went through in the forest. It was not an intentional slight but I do accept responsibility anyhow.”
Todoroki nodded. “I hope you’ll avoid making the same mistakes in the future.”
“I intend to, yeah. Sorry.” Neito remained bowing until he heard the door again, rushing to his seat.
After a bit, Vlad King stood up behind his desk. “Alright, everyone, let’s get started! Today, we’re going to be picking a very important part of your future hero career: hero names. To that end, we also need to discuss internships.”
Vlad opened a graph on the projector, revealing the internship offers. Neito got 461 it seemed. He tuned a bit out as he thought about what he needed in an internship. Was it better thinking skills? Paperwork? Exploring more unique quirks? Or maybe quirkless combat training. He wasn’t half bad at it, but it would make sure he’s useful even without quirks.
Vlad interrupted his thoughts. “-don’t get full of yourself: agencies can revoke these offers at a whim.”
“I’m going to throttle her once I figure out how to strangle thin air…” Tsubaraba grumbled, presumably referring to Peachy, leading Neito to wince and Mitchell to hand him some food of some sort. Tsubaraba looked grateful.
Mr King continued. “If you didn’t get many offers, don’t worry- everyone will be participating in internships next week. U.A.’s partnered with hero agencies around the country to make sure none of you will be left at home. I know all of you have already experienced fighting villains, but there’s valuable lessons to be learned from working alongside the pros- if only how to do the paperwork.”
Heh. Heh. Oh, Pari was awake. Hello Pari. Hi Neito. What’s happening?
Neito explained to her, receiving suggestions while Vlad continued. “But we’ll be picking the hero names you’ll likely be using for at least a year today. You can change these when needed, but make sure to pick well…”
Midnight burst through a door. “Or else you’ll get stuck with something mostly inappropriate for the rest of your lives.”
Mr Kan nodded. “Exactly. Midnight and I will be approving your choices, so don’t choose anything inappropriate or too violent. These names should represent you- who you wish to be and what you wish to do as a hero.”
“It’s fine to be a little inappropriate,” Midnight winked. Peculiar.
Vlad sighed. “Midnight…”
Midnight laughed. “Fine, I’ll behave.” She turned to face 1-B. “But, Vlad’s right. Your hero names should portray who you are. So only pick what you feel defines you best.”
“Awase, Kodai, Todoroki, Honenuki- come up and take these,” Vlad tapped a stack of blackboards and chalk. “-and pass them out to your classmates. You’ll each be announcing yours one at a time.” They obey and do so.
Itsuka Kendo became the Reliable Hero: Battle Fist and then it was Neito’s turn. He gulped before walking to the front of the room. He ran a hand through his now shoulder-length hair, he had finally cut it last night, and struck a pose. He was a jack of all trades, a master of none. He would save both thieves and travellers. He was-
“The Jack of all Trades Hero: Hermes!”
He received clapping, from Midnight apparently. “Just like the Greek God!”
Tetsutetsu seemed to be the same as canon, the Sturdy Hero: Real Steel. Neito briefly zoned out again at the discussion about that, coming back to when Mitchell walked up.
“Let’s get this over with. I am the Vineyard Hero: Maria,” they announced, sounding somewhat dejected..
“I like it!” Midnight exclaimed.
“Thanks…” They looked down at the board solemnly.
Neito gave them a concerned look. “It’s a great one!”
“…yeah, I just… this name is really dear to me,” they admitted.
“That’s alright, dear. Choosing a name important to you means you’ll work just as hard to uphold it,” Midnight gently replied.
“Why’s that, if I may ask?” Neito asked, curiously.
“…the name is the same as someone I cared about before I came here. I always looked up to them…” Without waiting for a response from Neito they went back to their chair, opened their notebook and ignored everyone.
Tsuburaba fidgeted with his board and grabbed his other hand. How curious. “Ugh… Damn it, coming up with a name is hard enough without all this bullcrap happening too…!” Neito watched as Kosei raised his hand. “Hey, what happens if we can’t think of a name?”
Midnight put a hand to her chin and smiled. “If you can’t come up with a name by yourself then obviously…” She licked something off her lips. “We’ll have to help you choose one!”
Tsuburaba squeaked. “Th-That’s good. I’m gonna need a really good Hero name considering what happened at the festival…” He blinked as Tsuburaba put a hand under his desk to grab something. “S-Sorry! I have an SI and I’m not entirely convinced she’s not a demon that decided to possess me on a whim-” Tsubaraba’s arm jerked and he quickly caught it. “Ugh…”
Neito quietly muttered, “Whoopsie.” Tsubaraba shot him a death glare. Neito stage whispered, “Sorry? Peachy can you not-”
Midnight looked at Kosei. “Oh, you poor child. That must be hard…”
“It is, but I’m stuck with her for the foreseeable future…” Tsubraraba answered.
Midnight made fists and Neito slightly winced in preparation. “Fighting! You’ll figure something out.” She put a hand on Tsuburaba’s shoulder. “I trust that you can.”
Tsubaraba squeaked once more, his face flushing a bit. “Well, I need something to do with air. I don’t think I want anything related to blowing, either, that’s too easy to mock.” How?
Midnight put a hand on her chin and a hand is on her hip as she thought. “Since your quirk makes barriers in the air, how about something related to that?”
“Hmmm… Well, ‘barrier’ sounds like it has ‘air’ in it, but that sounds kind of basic… Maybe that can be, like, my title,” Tsubaraba noted.
“Hm… how about Airlock? You lock people in the air with your walls,” Mitchell suggested.
Tsuburaba lit up with a grin. “That’s perfect! Shiozaki, you’re the best!”
Ibara flushed. “It’s nothing”
Tsuburaba walked up to the podium, tripping three whole times. That seemed painful. “Gh-! Sorry!” He finally managed to hold up the barrier. “I’m the Barrier Hero, A-” he was interrupted by Peachy apparently trying to divebomb the podium and backing straight into the blackboard behind him. “For fuck’s- The Barrier Hero: Airlock now if you’ll exCUSE me-” He quickly ran back to his seat.
Tokage chose the cute name Jigsaw Hero: Lizardy to applause, while Kaibara choose the simple yet cool name of the Rotating Hero: Spiral. Reiko became the Gemini Hero: Phantom. Then it was Shishida’ turn. “I choose my name after a mythological beast and a work of fiction that is quite important to me. Please, let me introduce myself as the Hyde Hero: Gevaudan!”
Awase became Welder, Todoroki became the Elemental Hero: Frostfire. Komori made a funny pun at that. It was mythical according to Will. Shoda became Mines for… a rather poor reason, if he was being honest. Will took Shihai’s name of Vantablack and apparently started some weird passive aggressive thing with Midnight.
Manga finger gunned the audience and named themself the Looney Hero, Munchkin. Like Looney Toons… maybe. Midnight declared it cute. Kodai chose rule.
Komori started popping out hilarious puns to sporetacularly announce herself as the Fungi Hero: Shemage, leading to varied reactions. Midnight cheered. Kodai gave a thumbs up and hummed. Will simply coughed. Mitchell, worryingly, collapsed into their notebook with a thud. Neito glanced over with concern.
Kamakiri’s original epithet of the Slasher Hero got rejected and he had to change it to the Ripper Hero, which wasn’t much better in his opinion. Especially not when combined with his hero name of Jack Mantis. Now one might think it was inspired by Jack the Ripper…
Bondo didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, nor did he speak, but he revealed his board to declare himself the Adhesive Hero: Plamo. Neito clapped and cheered.
“Call me the Dragon Hero: Long Weizi,” Rin announced, a rather cool name in Neito’s opinion. A sentiment apparently shared by Tetsutetsu, who asked what it was from with a grin.
“It can also mean Dragon Shroud. It’s a shroud that distinguished leaders from my home country wear,” Rin informed, which Neito found just fascinating. Then it was his friend’s turn.
Honenuki just sighed. “I couldn’t think of anything better. Call me the Quagmire Hero: Mudman.”
“Hmm. What about the Liquifier Hero: Melt down?” Neito suggested only to receive confusion and the knowledge that that apparently made it sound like Honenuki could cry. “…nevermind.”
“It’s alright. Simple names are trending right now,” Midnight replied gently with a thumbs up before glancing at her phone. “My my, would you look at the time? We finished faster than I thought we would.” She turned to Vlad King. “Then, I guess I’m done here. Bye Bye students! See you in class later!” she yapped to the class with a twirl before going out the door.
Kan paused before speaking. “Right. We still have a few minutes left of the period; does anyone have anything else to address before I dismiss you?”
Kendo raised a hand. “Actually, I have had a few people discuss with me some concerns. Since Shiozaki has a new SI, should we perhaps hold an election for a new vice representative?”
“Sure, I honestly don’t really want to have extra work. In the old world I was both the secretary and treasurer for my school and was buried in paperwork. This honestly sounds like a good deal for me,” Mitchell admitted. Sounded rather stressful.
“If there’s no objections that’s fine, then,” Vlad informed everyone.
Kendo nodded and stood up, walking to the board. “Raise your hand if you want the position and I’ll write your name on the board.” Neito, Tokage, Shoda, Shishida, Honenuki, Tetsutetsu, and Komori raised their hands.
“Will we be doing speeches again, Kendo?” Neito inquired.
Kendo shook her head. “We don’t really have time to and the speeches from last time still hold mostly true, I assume.”
“…not mine. The person I campaigned for is no longer present. I also intend to run myself this time,” Neito pointed out.
“I think we have time for speeches, as long as they’re quick,” Vlad informed.
Kendo nodded. “Then you can go first. As a note, I never asked: would you prefer if we use Nado or Monoma now?”
Neito paused. He hadn’t informed many of his name change. Eh. “Nado-Hunt.”
“I know I came off a bit… well y'know, the other day. I did not intend to get defensive when being crowded on a decision I made. Anyways, I believe myself to be a good option for Vice President. I will put what the class needs first and help with more quirk analysis if needed and anything else any of you need, like helping Tsunotori from 1-A with her Japanese for example. Of course, I am aware I am not too popular right now. If you do not vote for me, I ask you vote for Shishida since he's also a good fit thoughIprobablydonthavetimetosaywhy-” he rushed the ending before bowing. “Thank you.”
Kendo nodded. “Tokage?”
Tokage stood up and waved. “I mean, you guys already know what’s up with me. I’m a hard worker, I know what I’m doing, and I’m happy to help anyone with anything if they need me! I’m also pretty good at working with Itsuka, so I can promise a unified front over there if nothing else. So, yeah, thanks for your time.” She sat back down. Neito felt the last point is the most compelling one.
“Tetsutetsu?”
“Hell yeah!” The manly man stood up with a grin. “Alright! If you make me class vice rep, I can promise I’m not gonna back down from anything, no matter the problem! I’ll get everyone locked in and ready to go- we’ll take every challenge head on with a grin!” He slammed his fists into each other. “We’ll have a great time and I’m not going to let anyone down!” His enthusiasm was certainly a winning point.
Another nod. “Honenuki?”
“Thank you, Kendo. I believe that I’m a good fit for this position as I am good at both hero works and academics; if you ever do need my assistance, I am quite well placed to assist with either. Additionally, I am able to assist with any other issues the class may have to the best of my ability. Thank you.” The pale hair bowed and returned to his seat.
“Shoda?”
Shoda stood up. “Ah… didn’t think we’d need to have a speech. Um… if you vote for me I’ll do my best to support all of you and Kendo? I can promise that I’ll try my best and I won’t let anyone down, believe me!” He sat back down.
“Komori?”
Komori stood up and cleared her throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, Vlad King. These are trying times in this academy. We don’t know what to expect and uncertainty is rife at the present time. As such, you need someone that you can depend on not just as a representative but as a confidante and a safespace. I feel these are values that I can encompass best. Thank you.” She sat down, leaving Neito disappointed at the lack of puns.
Kendo blinked. “Alright. And Shishida?”
“Thank you, Miss Kendo. I believe that I am the best choice for class vice representative because I uphold U.A.’s core principles: I never give up and I always give everything my all. If you ever need someone to talk to or assist with classwork, I believe myself to be a very good choice- not to toot my own horn and all. Even if I am not elected, please, feel free to rely on me as a classmate and as a friend.” He bowed. “Thank you.”
Kendo looked around. “I think that’s everyone- unless anyone else has anything to say?” Upon receiving silence, she continued. “Then write down your votes and I’ll come around and collect them.”
Kendo announced the winner “Alright, so that’s
Kendo nodded. “Tetsutetsu, looks like you’re our new vice rep.”
Tetsutetsu grinned. “Hell yeah!”
Komori started in the oddly emotionless voice she took during her speech. “These are trying times indeed. I hope you’re up to the challenge, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.” She paused and grinned, continuing normally. “You’re a pretty fungi so I’m sure you’ll do great!”
“Thanks!” The man in question responded without missing a beat.
Kendo blinked once more, shaking her head. “Right. Anyone else have anything to add?”
“Great job on winning, Tetsutetsu!” Neito exclaimed, leading to Tsubaraba mumbling something about something last. He turned to face him and asked some questions. “Are you getting good sleep, Tsubaraba? Also, how fares Peachy?”
Tsuburaba didn’t answer, instead giving a flat and annoyed look that revealed bags under his eyes.
“…I see. Peachy, can you please let Tsubaraba sleep..?” he started before the bell rang and Vlad informed them that the choices were due Wednesday.
During Lunch, he had learned some things. For one, there was indeed another traitor. It was Sato. And he was permitted to visit him. He was rather curious as to their motivations. So off he went, only to find Sato repeating a certain odd phrase in their cell. “Crazy? I was crazy once. They put me in a room. A rubber room. A rubber room with rats. And rats make me crazy. Crazy? I was cra-”
He stopped when Neito sat down in front of the window of their cell. “Hello there!”
Sato was laying down next to their bed, sitting up and raising an eyebrow at that. "Hey. Don't suppose you're my lawyer, are you? What can I do for ya?"
“Ha! No, I'm no lawyer. As for what you can do for me… I hear you were the traitor. Mind if I ask stuff?” Neito politely asked.
Sato simply shrugged. "Go ahead. Though I kinda have a question for you as well, but I reckon it can wait." Oh? He wondered what it was.
Neito grinned. “Sure! We can take turns then! First off, what's your name?”
"Michael. Mike Hunt. My father thought he was a comedian,” Mike needlessly added on. “Kinda opens up my question, what's with your name? They said in the festival your last name is Nadohunt."
“Hyphenated. Nado is Snipe’s surname, Hunt was his reincarnator’s, Trishtan.” Neito grimaced at that. “She's gone now.” It still hurt…
Oddly enough, that made Sato stand up quickly. "Excuse the fuck out of me? Did you just say Trishtan? Trishtan Hunt? Did she happen to be Australian?" There was something… odd to his voice.
“Yeah, I think so. Why?” Neito tilted his head, curiously. It was odd enough that he recognized the name.
The other was quiet for a moment before he began to chuckle weirdly, as if the laugh itself was vile. "Trish… She was here? Is this some kind of fucking sick joke? Trish is… my older sister. And you're saying she was here right in front of me this whole time?" Oh dear.
Neito stayed quiet for a moment, parsing what to say next without causing further undue distress. “If I was joking, how would I know the name?” He paused again at a new thought before continuing. “…also does this make you my uncle?”
Mike’s voice remained strained. "Of course she would adopt someone here… that’s exactly what she would do… it probably does. Make me your uncle I mean. You said she's gone now. What happened?"
Neito gestured outward with a pained look on his face. “Poof. Gone. During the Sports Festival. Just vanished from Snipe's head.”
Sato sat down on the bed, holding his head in his hands sadly. "Gone… she's… fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fucking piece of shit.” He sighed loudly.” I need to process this shit. Guess I'm your uncle, or however the fuck that works. Do you have any other questions for me or can I have time to think?"
Neito did have another question but decided against asking it. He had a guess as to the answer anyhow, no need to cause more pain for his Uncle. “That's fine, Uncle Mike. Have a good day! Or, however good it can be, I guess…”
Neito sat up and Eraserhead led him back out. Neito didn’t hold Uncle Mike’s traitorous actions against him. After all, there was little most people wouldn’t do for their loved ones.
Tuesday morning, Neito stumbled upon Jiro. He quickly approached her with a smile upon his face. “Hi, Jirou!”
Jirou nodded back. “Good morning.”
Neito cocked his head. “You seem rather subdued. Eh. Want to hang out later again?”
…
“…I’m going to rip off the bandaid. I recently returned and the person that was in my body isn’t around any more,” Jirou informed him.
…
He felt his heart thumping and he quickly schooled his blank expression back to where it had previously been.
…
“Ah. That’s… Hmm. At least you’re back, I guess.”
…
“…would you mind being friends too?” Neito asked, forcing his brain back into ‘normal’ function.
“Excuse me?” Jirou asked
Neito hummed. “Would you want to be friends?”
“…I don’t know who you are.”
Oh right. “Ah. Right. Nice to meet you, Jirou! I’m Neito Nado-Hunt,” he grinned and held out a hand for a handshake.
Jirou took his hand. “Kyouka Jirou.”
…
They shook hands before Neito let go. “Just wondering, is there anything out of the ordinary since you returned? Like more sensitive hearing or something like that since you kinda weren’t in your body for a good bit,” he asked, a tad curious as to potential unreincarnation side effects.
“…No.”
That was good. “I’m glad. Do you know your way to the 1-A Classroom?”
Jirou shook her head as Neito’s vision briefly blurred. “I can find my own way there.”
…
“Alright. Can I ask a question?”
…
“Hm?”
“Do you hate the reincarnate for stealing your life or do you not blame them?” Her name was Nei, right? She reacted weirdly to the name… Shouldn’t…
…
Jirou furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry, what?”
…
“You lost a good portion of time. Do you dislike them for it?”
…
“That’s not important, I apologize. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m available. Also I reckon we should start heading to class so have a wonderful day, Jiro.”
…
“…Sure. See you around.” Jirou walked away.
…
Neito believed he waved before departing himself.
…
He wound up at an empty boy’s restroom before he broke down.
…
A rather depressed and lonely mind made faulty connections.
…
He had fought alongside Tom and became sort of friends.
…
He had befriended the first Mitchell.
…
He’d befriended Nei.
…
He had been on good terms with Kaibara.
…
Trishtan had adopted him.
…
Neito vomited into a trash can and slammed a fist into the mirror, a brief blaze of rage at himself. He fell back down and sobbed again, not quite noticing the damaged mirror nor his now bloody knuckles.
Hisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfault.
He took a deep breath and forced it all down. Repress. Compartmentalize. He can deal with it later. It was time for class. He took a deep breath. Another deep breath.
Then he returned to class with a smile on his face like always.
During lunch, he encountered Ponytori. Again. She narrowed her eyes at his hand and forced him to see Recovery Girl much to his chagrin. After that they worked on her Japanese again before something unexpected.
“Happy birthday, Neito, by the way!” Pony cheerfully proclaimed, leading to Neito stumbling over the current grammar lesson. He had forgotten that was today. So how did she figure that out? So that’s what he asked her, in Japanese to ensure it was still getting some learning in.
“Uh… school… website..?” she sheepishly responded. Something felt off with that but it was a satisfactory answer so he didn’t push.
She gave him a quick hug when the lesson ended, leaving him somewhat confused.
With the schoolday over, he left to go get on the train, having mostly forgotten the interaction with Ponytori earlier besides the notes on what she needed to work on.
“Monoma, wait!” He heard Mitchell shout, sounding slightly out of breath. He turned around to face them.
“What is it, Mitchell?” Neito asked.
“It’s your birthday right?” the vine-haired classmate asked.
Neito paused. Did she also get it from the school website. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Ibara leaned in to his ear, leading to his face feeling oddly flushed. Did they give him a fever? Mitchell did flush herself yesterday… “Then how about a birthday kiss?” Mitchell said in a low voice.
“Wha-” Neito started before he felt warm… lips…
“And that’s how you distract someone,” Pari heard someone say before she sighed. She departed from the memory she was currently in. She was probably the first clone to get addicted to a fake video game…
She departed and started shaking Neito after finding him. After enough shaking, he woke up. Neito, we’re running late.
Neito opened the door, entering the house with a still flushed face and running late. He burst through the door. “I’m home, Dad!” He glanced around when he thought he heard a creak but assumed it to be his imagination.
Snipe was standing just across from the doorway. “Welcome home, son.”
And then people jumped out from behind all sorts of stuff like it was an ambush, shouting as one: “Happy birthday!!”
Neito blinked. “Ah, right. That's today.” He assumed those around him had learned from the website too. He looked around. “So why are y'all here?”
“Ow!” Tsubaraba exclaimed after pinching himself after a mutter.
Then Tamaki walked up and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re throwing you a party!”
Neito glanced awkwardly at his senior. “A party?”
“A celebration!” Tamaki added, guiding him to the center of the room, as everyone congregated around them. This was strange…
“Everything’s prepared out back,” said Snipe, opening the backyard door. Neito stared at him for a bit before walking out to see what’s there. On a long table was all sorts of food and snacks, wrapped packages along the side. Everyone else followed behind him, though there was still space for all these people.
Neito walked over to the table and stared at the food.
“Take your seat, Nado,” requested Tamaki, as the others also sat down. Neito and Snipe both looked at him before looking at each other. Neito went to sit down.
Across from him is Awase, while Pony, Reiko, and Emily were on his left along with Snipe, Tamaki, and Komori to his right. Across the table, not directly in front of him, were Koda, Shoji, Mineta, Tsubaraba, Peachy, and Tsu. A lot of people. Not counting him, 12 more people than he had ever had celebrate his birthday.
Minoru perked up “We gotta sing the song!” he said with a grin. The others look at each other a bit unsurely, but as the short boy starts to sing, they quickly join in. Except Tsuburaba. He kept his head down.
“Happy birthday to you!”
“Happy birthday to you!”
Happy birthday, dear Neito!”
“Happy birthday to you!”
Neito smiled. “Thank y'all!”
He received claps and cheers in response, and Snipe stood up to cut the cake, handing slices to everyone.
Kosei dug in almost instantly. “Thank you, uh, Mr. Snipe, sir!” He exclaimed, then murmured to himself.
Minoru perked up and put a thumb up. “Thanks Mr. Nado-Hunt!”
“Just Nado,” half-grunted Snipe as he gave the next slice to the next person.
Neito stared guiltily at the cake for a moment. “Cake?”
“Frosting, sugar, some kind of spongy base? It’s the expensive kind, to be sure,” said Amajiki absentmindedly.
On the one hand, Himi had promised they’d have had cake together… On the other, wasting this apparently expensive cake would be rather rude. He made a face before poking his slice with a fork.
“Is there anything you don’t like about it? I’ve got their number saved and they work quick.” Snipe asked, apparently noticing his discomfort.
“Huh? No, it's fine, I've just never had cake.” He took a piece and ate it, swallowing the delicious snack that seemed acrid.
Minoru looked up in surprise. “Huh??” Then he grinned. “Then you should try the one big sis made, she’s awesome at this!”
Tsubaraba had been quiet this whole time, though he kept stealing glances at Tsu. It was pretty clear Peachy was making him. He pushed his head to his food and after swallowing, finally spole. “Big sis? Who's that?”
Minoru looked over with a grin. “Ibara, I slept over at her house yesterday!”
“You're related to Ibara?” Neito raised an eyebrow. “You do both have hair based quirks…” Hmm. A hair manipulation quirk and a agrokinesis one?
“Shiozaki made some of the stuff here?” His eyes widened, a little excited.
Minoru looked at Neito and shook his head, still grinning. “Nope! She’s a really good friend!”
Then he turned to Tsubaraba. “Yeah! I told you she’s incredible!”
“I mean, she's basically keeping me sane with that coffee jelly.” Tsubaraba chuckled a little awkwardly.
“I see.” Neito hums before eating more cake. “Yum.”
Minoru turned back to Neito. “So what was big sis’s distraction anyways?”
Neito felt himself freeze up. Warm lips- Oh dear. It was hot out here! Must be a fever. He awkwardly chuckled. “I don't know what you're talking about-”
Minoru looked full of awe at that. “Woah, big sis was able to distract you without you even knowing? She really is awesome.”
“That blush on your cheeks is telling me something went down, alright,” Tsubaraba smirked. “You see anything saintly, if you catch my drift?” He wiggled his eyebrows as Neito mentally combusted and his own hand jabbed himself with his fork. “OW!”
Neito’s fading blush returned full force as he spoke with a few octaves higher than usual. “N-No, we didn't go to a church.” Definitely not going to give thought to anything else he might need- “Also are you okay?”
“As okay as I can be with her trying to ruin my peace of mind,” he grumbled.
Minoru looked up at Tsubara with curiosity. “You have a girl in your head?”
“Yes, and she's the worst thing to happen to me in my entire life.” He proclaimed, voice hollow.
“More like the best! She stops you from being such a big perv!” Komori shouted.
“Aww, I thought it was me!” Awase exclaimed.
Tsuburaba smirked playfully. “After that stunt a few days ago at lunch, you’re at a firm second place, if that helps.” He elbowed Yosetsu in the ribs.
Neito hesitantly ate some more cake before glancing at Pony and Reiko. “Sooo… How’re you three?”
Pony looked briefly confused before glancing at Yanagi and getting a countenance of realization. “I’m great!”
Reiko nodded. “I’m good as well.”
“Me too,” Emily robotically added on.
“The cake’s yummy!” Pony exclaimed.
“Pari says hi and also that she’s going to rob both of your cakes in my head, by the way,” Neito offered.
“…What? Who?” Pony asked, obviously confused.
“…Uh huh. Hello Pari,” Reiko greeted.
“Hi Pari. Howvee you been?” Emily asked.
“Here, Neito,” Reiko set her chopsticks down and held out her hand, which Neito took after setting his fork down.
“Begin communication! Hi Emily and Rei-Rei! I’ve been good! End communication!” Pari announced, using brackets of sorts to communicate distinctly from Emily.
“So… Thanks for coming to celebrate, Reiko and Emily,” Neito awkwardly stated.
Reiko blinked before smiling slightly. “You’re welcome, Neito.”
Emily added in a simple. “Yep”.
Over the rest of the time it took to eat, Neito, Pari, Ponytori, Emily, and Reiko discussed various topics including but not limited to: Power Rangers 293472, Return of Jonagor Part 3 Deluxe Remake; quirks; books; their classes; how Sigma they all were; the best type of soda; and their favorite activities.
After that it was time for gifts!
Unwrapping Mineta’s, he found an old copy of the Odyssey, which he didn’t immediately recognize. After a moment, he does. “Thanks, Minoru!”
Ponytori’s was next, revealing a plane model with 3 small wooden figures inside. One resembled him, another resembled her, and another resembled another American in a suit. He assumed it was a member of Pony’s family. He smiled. “This is a very nice plane, Ponytori!”
Tamaki gave Neito an odd leather jacket and explained it's crocodile leather. "It's good, not just as civilian wear, but also for a hero in a pinch: it stops a knife when it comes to it.” And, if he had [Manifest] and it was an emergency, he could get Crocodile parts. Smart.
“It's cool! Thank you, Senpai!” Neito smiled back.
Tsubaraba gave him a gift card to a place he didn’t know, though he was sure he thought it was cool. He thanked him just the same.
Koji’s was a jar of honey and chocolate honeycomb candy. Neito would definitely be trying this later.
Then Reiko gave him 2 bracelets, one displaying SISTER (presumably for Pari) and another displaying BROTHER. He assumed, logically, that since their sisters were sisters then he was their brother kinda? Yanagi left after a thanks, explaining she had somewhere to be.
“Alright, now that the cake’s done and dusted and the gifts have been given, it's time for some entertainment of the old fashioned kind: we’re going to be playing Tug of War,” said Snipe.
It has been a couple minutes since the last of the gifts nad been delivered, with some people munching on the sweets, continuing their conversations, but Snipe was right on the money that they were a bit aimless.
“Alright!” clapped Awase, catching Neito in a side-hug/grab. “We’re going to be together!” Wow, a hug! Should he hug back..?
“Yeah!” exclaimed Neito instead.
“Not so fast!” said Pony, jumping to Neito’s other side. “You’re not leaving me out!”
“Keep in mind, though, the teams got to be balanced,” drawled Snipe. “Who’s going to be the captain of the other one?”
“Me! Me!” shouted Komori. Immediately, Shoji joined her, along with an excited Koda. “Just watch, you’ve got no chance against me!”
“Now let’s divide the rest of you up properly; next choice goes to Neito’s team,” interjected Snipe, nodding toward them.
“Pick Kosei!” said Awase, still on his right.
“What?!” says Pony, from Neito’s other side. “Don’t listen to him!” She turned towards the aforementioned. “No offense Tsuburaba!”
“Offense taken!” he mock-shouted back, but Pony had already continued her speech.
“Pick Minoru instead! His balls are just the thing we need!” Hmm. More sticky was always useful. But so was hands-free making the other team trip…
“Alrighty,” replied Neito after thinking a second on it, pointing at the small boy, who let out an excited “Yeah!”, jumping right next to them.
Snipe just turned his head towards the other team, nodding to them.
“Asui,” chose Komori, standing straight backed in front of the two boys towering behind her, a dangerous edge to her smile.
“Kero,” replied the frog-girl, taking her place at Komori’s side. She doesn’t smile, but it's clear that she, too , has been possessed by the spirit of competition.
“Wow, thanks guys!” responded Kosei, standing alone in the field between the two teams.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ve got you!” comforted Awase.
“Yeah, it wasn’t personal!” attempted-comforted Pony.
“The last choice goes to you, but they get the advantage at the start,” explained Snipe, as Kosei sulkily joined Team Neito.
“Now that teams are decided, you’ve got to talk strategy. You can’t really do that without talking strategy, though; so let’s get to it.”
He turned around, to the fence at the back of the yard, and roughly pulled it away, revealing a second part of the backyard behind it. This one, though, was far messier than the clean-ish half they had been occupying until now. It was muddy, very muddy, which everyone took notice of.
“No good scrap happens without getting a bit dirty, does it?” asked Snipe, stepping into the ground, his boots sinking into it slightly.
The others were a bit hesitant to enter; after all, most of them had come here straight from school, not that otherwise they would have had boots fit for it.
“Well, come on,” said Tamaki, stepping beside them and marching onto the field, standing next to Snipe; his own shoes were half-bootlike, but they got dirty all the same, his pants together with them.
“Heroes shouldn’t get afraid from a bit of wear and tear, dirt and grime,” he added, playing it up.
Neito was the first to follow, but at his step, everyone else followed as one great wave, forgetting about their momentary fear.
“Give me a moment to properly mark the starting positions, and talk some strategy in the meantime.”
The two teams instinctively gathered away from the others, huddling together to discuss their plans. Obviously, Neito and co couldn’t hear the opposing team strats.
“Alright team, we’re going to win!” said Pony. “I need your best ideas!”
“Hey, Awase,” started Neito. “Remember the Sports Festival?”
Awase grinned. “I sure do, mate.”
“Let’s weld ourselves to the ground!” shush-shouted Neito.
Mineta nodded energetically.
At that, the two teams separated, standing facing the others; in the meantime, Snipe had made a small circle in the center of the field, with Amajiki having helped him.
“And don’t overdo it with your quirks, kiddos,” added Snipe. “I like my backyard how it is.”
“Okay, dad!” shouted Neito, at the same time as Komori shouted “Don’t worry Mr. Snipe!”
“Now, the rules should be plenty clear,” said Snipe as he walked out from the central circle. “First team who gets all of their members in a circle, and or have them let go of the rope loses.” As he finished, he tossed one end of the rope towards Team Neito: Neito caught it.
“Try to be sportive,” he added, tossing the other end towards Team Komori: Shoji was the one to catch it.
“Get yourselves ready,” said Snipe. “In 5!” he began, deliberately counting slowly, and both teams scrambled.
On Team Neito’s side, they were slow on the uptake: Pony and Awase began to argue on the order of the participants. Neito groaned.
“4!”
Team Komori apparently didn’t have such difficulties; there were none so assertive as to challenge Komori, and so Shoji stood in front, Koda behind him, Tsuyu third and Komori fourth.
“3!”
Snipe’s counting sped up; Neito took the initiative, grabbing Awase to copy his quirk, then taking first place in their line.
“2!”
With no time to think, Pony grabbed the space behind him, and Awase behind her; he took a split-second to weld Kosei to the rope and to the ground with a wink, before doing the same to himself, letting out a grumble on not having done it to everyone; Mineta was left as the last one in line.
“1! Start!”
Immediately, Shoji pulled on the rope, almost bowling Team Neito over; this initial momentum didn’t last long, however, as they fought back.
“HOLD THE LINE!” shouted Pony.
“PULL HARDER!” shouted Komori from the other side. Shoji was already gripping the rope with two sets of hands, but he put even more force into it, Koda, and Tsu helping him along.
“Dodge!” came from the other side, as Pony shot a horn towards them, Shoji barely leaning out of the way.
“Where is that sportive?!” shouted back Komori.
“All is fair in love and war!” shouted back Pony. “And besides, I warned him.”
“That wasn’t very fair,” added Snipe, tilting his head downwards.
“Sorry!” squeaked Pony, not stopping for a moment in her efforts.
It went on for a bit like this, the two teams periodically exchanging barbs with each other; though admittedly it was mostly the same few people.
That was, until, out of nowhere, Kosei’s knees seemed to give things up, as he fell backwards, his knees bending backwards and his yelp being heard all over the garden.
Tsu took the opportunity to perform an unexpected maneuver: putting her entire strength into her legs, she jumped backwards, the sudden impact rocking Team Neito: Neito himself fell forwards into the mud circle, Pony right behind him, with Awase himself sliding on the ground as the mud he had made contact with got pulled out of place from the strength of the pull.
Mineta, funnily enough, managed to stay in place thanks to his balls, together with Kosei, whom he had stuck one to, but his piece of rope had broken off instead of helping him keep it from moving.
“Dare I say, we arrived at an unexpected conclusion,” drawled Snipe, as Neito picked himself up, dirty and muddy. At least the others had landed on him and thus become less muddy.
“I’m so sorry!” rushed Komori. “I mean, I didn’t want you to get all muddied up!” she continued, giving a hand to him.
“Yeah, you did it shroom-girl!” said Pony, picking herself up from outside the circle.
“Don’t worry Komori!” reassured Neito. “It’s nothing I’ve never dealt with before!” With a smile, he got up, dusting himself off.
“A bit of dirt and mud never killed anyone,” reaffirmed Snipe, as the others put down the rope and gathered around the center. “Feel free to use the bathrooms, and don’t spare ‘em towels. I hate white ones anyways,” he said, to laughter, as they moved back to the main part of the backyard.
“Well you’ve certainly tired each other out a bit with that, so this one won’t be half as exhausting; a bit of a darts competition. I’ve got a sweet spot for the little things myself,” said Snipe, pointing to the small boards nailed to the other end of the backyard’s fence.
He stood almost half the yard from it, twirling a dart in his fingers.
“Let me show you how it’s done;” and without looking, he threw the dart, and, naturally, it landed in the exact center. “You need to throw from here, otherwise it’s too easy,” he continued, not realizing that it's very much far too hard for anyone to hit it from that distance without previous training.
“Who wants to go first?”
Minoru perked up, oblivious to the intricacies of the game. “I’ll go!”
“Here you go,” said Snipe, as he passed a dart onto him; there was a whole basket of them on the table.
“Godspeed, little man…” Awase muttered, intimidated at the length he’d have to throw.
Mineta smiles as he took the dart from Snipe, his throw was ok, but it lacked technique, the dart traveled a short distance and landed on the ground, as Mineta’s expression shifted into one of unusual curiosity, staring at each of them.
“Not bad for your first shot; who’s next?”
“I’ll try!” exclaimed Komori, going up; her throw was forceful, and the dart hit the backyard wall, half a meter from the board.
Awase rushed forward. “Time for me to shine!” he said, grinning, completely missing his throw: his dart flew over the backyard wall. Tsuburaba snickered at Awase’s missk receiving a small pout. “Hey, if you’re so smug, why don’t you try throwing?”
Tsuburaba opened and closed his mouth a few times, weighing whether or not he should before giving into implicit peer pressure. “Alright, but everyone cover their eyes… Just in case the dart goes flying somewhere it shouldn’t.”
He grabbed a dart, wound up to throw akin to a baseball pitch before his arm completely went off track, throwing the dart at Mineta. It slammed into one of his hair balls and knocked it to the ground, getting stuck. “Ugh… Why am I not surprised?” He groaned. “I’d ask for another go, but she’d probably just mess with me again…” He went off to grab some more snacks, probbaly sulking a little.
Minoru laughed sheepishly “Sorry haha! I wasn’t all there.”
“Who wants to go next?” asked Snipe, getting the tournament back on track.
“Kero,” said Asui, moving forward with a focused expression on her face. She gripped the dart gently but tightly, and threw it forward; it was a clean throw, the dart embedding itself in the outermost region of the board.
Still, it was the very first hit.
“Nice!” exclaimed Awase, and Shoji politely clapped.
Pony moved next: she smiled, nodding to Tsu, aimed her dart and threw it confidently: it was the second hit, an inch closer to the center than Tsu’s, whose eyes narrowed at her a tad.
Shoji was the next one to try: he extended his arm, and let the dart fly, but it only embeds itself into the backyard’s wall.
At Tamaki’s push, Koda was the next one to go; he nervously gripped the dart, throwing it so weakly that it didn’t even reach the backyard wall.
There were only a few people remaining who hadn’t thrown yet; and as Koji turned back, his eyes landed straight on Amajiki.
“Senpai, you should throw a dart too!” he said, lighting up a bit.
“I’m not good at it,” said Amajiki, averting his eyes.
“No way!” bumped in Awase. “I don’t believe you!”
“Never say never, senpai,” joined in Shoji. “Those were your words during our meetings.”
“Yeah, you can do it!” Neito cheered.
Minoru turned to Tamaki, watching expectantly.
“Alright, alright,” said Tamaki, waving them off, grabbing a dart, and gripping it tightly.
He squared up, holding the dart at chest height, his arm’s elbow at a forty-five degree angle. In one explosive motion, he let the dart fly; it successfully embedded itself into the board, a bit closer to the center than Pony’s.
It was evidently not enough for Amajiki himself, but the others cheered for him.
Neito stepped up and took a dart. Lining himself up, he threw it. It hit the very bottom of the board, very nearly missing.
“Well done, son. But everyone else did well, too; now what do you say for some authentic australian meat pies?”
Neito blinked. “Meat… pies?”
“Aye, meat pies alright.”
He took out a large metal sheet full of steaming-hot meat pies, and everyone took some, breaking off into small groups, talking among themselves.
Neito sat beneath a tree and takes a bite out of one. He quickly opened his mouth and made noises due to it being hot.
After everyone else had gone home, Snipe brought up a small, metal revolver from under his cape.
“I’ve been holding onto this one for a long time now . . . it’s time I pass this on.”
“What’s this, Dad?” asked Neito, looking curiously at it.
“It’s a gun,” he said, with a grave voice. “Not a real one, as it only shoots rubber bullets, and few of them at that, but it’s still dangerous.”
Neito nodded attentively.
“It’s the first real weapon I used with my quirk. I treasured it dearly, even after I switched to more advanced firearms, even though I didn’t have much use for it then, and I have even less use for it now. You, however, might find it handy to have it with you, in case you are caught without copied quirks,” he said, handing it over.
Neito curiously looked it over, as Snipe continued speaking.
“It’ll be a bit until I’ll let you off with it; I’ll keep it locked up here in the gun-room until I’ve taught you enough to use it responsibly. All the same . . . from now on, it’s yours.”
“Thanks, dad!” said Neito, jumping into a hug.
Snipe was initially surprised, but returned it.
Neito was sitting on the couch, reading The Odyssey when someone opened the door. He glanced over and realized his fever was back when he saw who it was. “Oh! Hi, Mitchell!”
“Oh, Hi.” They paused. “Well, did you like the catering I did?”
“Catering?” asked, his chest thumping oddly.
“Catering right, giving food for a party? Sorry my translations go English to Japanese only, so I can’t just use Vietnamese,” Mitchell explained.
“Ohhh. Yeah, the food was great! You made it?” Neito inquired curiously.
“Yeah, the lotus in the jelly cake was a pain, but I did it. I did have Em Mineta’s help though for some of the other things,” they answered.
“It was delicious! What’s Em?” Neito questioned.
“Oh, that was a slip of my Vietnamese. Em means younger sibling, but Vietnamese culture uses it as an honorific for anyone younger than you that is in sibling range of age,” Mitchell elucidated. Wow, that was interesting.
“I see. Anyways, I loved the food! Thank you!” Neito exclaimed. With minor hesitation he went and gave Mitchell a hug, who winced but hid quickly. Contact was a no no, then.
“You’re welcome, anyways hope you're not full. I made some Banana Bread as a birthday present for you.” They said, grabbing it from their bag before handing it over, pushing Neito back a bit.
Neito smiled before taking some. “You should have some too.”
“Okay,” they replied hesitantly before grabbing a slice for themselves, not eating for some reason. Neito stared at them expectedly. “Are you waiting for something?”
“...Are you going to eat some?” Neito asked.
“Oh yeah, I just didn’t want to be considered rude for eating it before you. Sorry, it’s a bit of a cultural thing for me,” Mitchell informed.
“Fair enough. I really don’t mind but if you insist!” He started nibbling on his slice before coughing. “I’ll be right back-” He sprinted to his room and grabbed his blood bottle, returning and drinking some.
Mitchell took a bite before looking at the bread. Then they looked up at Monoma and stared a bit before saying. “I think me and Em Mineta added a bit too much flour…”
Neito grimaced. “Yeah. It still tastes well enough though, don’t worry. Just a bit dry.” He licked his lips.
“It’s fine, hm…” Mitchell paused for a bit. “I have a bit of soup cooking at home. Maybe I can bring some for you tomorrow. Think of it as a sort of make up gift”
Neito paused. “Alright. I’d be delighted to try some.”
Michell smiled before asking. “Wait, what’s your spice tolerance?”
“Spice tolerance? It’s pretty high, I think,” Neito answered, though he didn’t know for sure.
“Okay, well nice talking to you Monoma,” Mitchell said as they waved and got up, heading to the door.
Yep! Nice talking with you too, Mitchell!” Neito replied one last time before she went out the door,
Then he went to bed, finding sleep rather easy.