A Different Path

Chapter Two - Helping Class 1A

It was decided after All Might took Tenko in that his name should be changed to protect his identity and to guard his future from the horrors of his past. He was christened the name Tomura Yagi and officially became part of All Might's family. He took to calling the #1 hero Uncle Toshinori, as All Might always considered Tomura's grandmother to be like an older sister to him. They saw each other through the best and the worst and became closer than Tomura or All Might ever imagined they would. All Might even told Tomura the secret about his power and how it works. Tomura found it fascinating, although was never much interested in gaining the power himself. His decay and destructive urges were hard enough to deal with as it is.

When All Might decided to take a teaching job at UA, Tomura applied for their general studies program and got in. Despite Toshinora's occasional pushing, Tomura could never imagine himself joining the hero course. There was no way a guy like him could ever become a hero, or so he thought.

The day started just like any other. Tomura was making his way to his home room, weaving through all the annoyingly crowded hallways that blocked his path. Luckily for Tomura, people tended to move out of his way without him having to make much of a fuss. It was no secret that Tomura wasn't exactly a beauty, in fact he definitely leaned more towards the "oh god this guy looks like a creep" side, but he didn't mind much. In fact, he kind of liked the fact that it made people leave him alone. Tomura wasn't what you would call a people person. He was perfectly happy to spend his days with his own company and a few close compatriots.

Since coming to UA, Tomura hadn't exactly been having alot of luck with making friends, but it wasn't an issue he considered pressing. He was much more concerned about making it through his days without killing someone. Tomura's quirk not only caused some outward deformities, but some internal ones as well. Tomura struggled greatly with destructive urges that haunted him every waking moment. These urges, in turn, caused him to develop a less than agreeable personality as well as a raging skin condition that left him scratching all the time. Very few people in his life were able to overlook his sour personality to see what a caring person he really was, meaning he didn't get along with 99% of the people he came across. On more than one occasion, Tomura considered just giving into these urges, but he would think about the women who saved him as well as his Uncle Toshinora and he would resist. Over time, it became much easier to ignore his urges, making each day a little easier than the last. Although, there always were exceptions.

For example, today he was going to have to help the hero course students, Class 1A to be exact, with their training. His uncle offered up his services to help Class 1A learn how to better protect against quirks that can be fatal with just a single touch. Of course, his uncle did this without consulting him so now he was going to help some irritating, self-righteous hero students better themselves at his expense. The very thought was making his blood boil. He will be having many choice words with his uncle later today, that's for sure. Tomura looked up at the clock as he entered his home room and sighed. In 5 hours, he would have to meet the hero course students in the training gym.

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Izuku could feel himself buzzing with excitement as he entered the training gym. Mr. Aizawa said that today they would be learning about how to defend against especially dangerous quirks and that a student from general studies would be helping them train.

Needless to say, everyone in class 1A was very interested to see who this mystery student was. Surely, he must have a very powerful quirk to be in general studies and still be allowed to join the hero course students for this afternoon.

As everyone settled into the gym, Mr. Aizawa began his opener for the lesson

"Ok class, quiet down. Today, you are going to be learning about defending against especially dangerous quirks-"

Over to his left, Izuku heard Kacchan snort before whispering in Kirishima's ear,

"As if whatever quirk this dweeb from general studies has is more powerful than mine"

Mr. Aizawa sent a menacing glare Kacchans way, causing the boy to shrink back a bit and cough awkwardly. Mr. Aizawa continued, with a hint of annoyance now in his voice,

"As I was saying... Today, you are going to be learning about defending against especially dangerous quirks. To help us, Tomura Yagi from general studies will be joining our rabble."

Izuku's eyes widened at the mention of the name Yagi. Wait, is this the kid All Might adopted all those years back? There had been mentions of him in the papers and online but no one ever really got a good look at the kid. He was one of All Might's most well kept secrets.

As Izuku's thoughts were racing, he caught sight of a figure entering from one of the main doors of the gym. In walked a rather scrawny, tall kid with a head full of shoulder length sky blue hair. His face was nothing really to look at. In fact, the kid looked as though he hadn't drank any water since the day he was born. Damn, he could use some chapstick. The look in his eye was definitely intimidating. He looked as though, if he had the choice, he would kill each and every last one of the other students in the room. Izuku could tell his classmates felt the same way as the tension in the room thickened tenfold.

"Now Mr. Yagi here has a very unique quirk, one never seen before. He will give a quick explanation and demonstration of his quirk now"

Tomura scratched his neck and cleared his throat, looking annoyed, before speaking in a scratchy voice

"Yeah, so basically my quirk is called decay. If I touch something with my five fingertips, it turns to dust, like so-"

Next to Tomura was a wooden dummy with a crudely drawn smiley face. He reached out and touched the dummy's face and in a matter of seconds the dummy turned stone-like before crumbling into ash.

"My quirk is always fatal. All I have to do to kill you is to touch you with my five fingers."

As he said this, Tomura waggled the five fingers on his left hand and a sickening smile spread across the pale boy's face, causing Izuku's blood to run cold. By the looks on the faces of his other classmates, they felt the same way. Even Kacchan seemed to have an air of nervousness about him. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of that quirk.

Mr. Aizawa took over the speech once more,

"So, with that in mind, each of you will be going up against Mr. Yagi here sometime in the future. We will be sticking to around 3-5 people per day depending on how fast the matches go. Make no mistake, despite being in general studies, Mr. Yagi here is well trained and won't be going easy on you. However, for your safety, he will be wearing gloves that cover two of his fingers so that, if he does touch you, the decay won't be fatal."

"It may sting a bit though" Tomura piped up, that creepy smile still plastered across his face.

Mr. Aizewa continued, ignoring the comment,

"For you to win, you must restrain Mr. Yagi in a way that makes him unable to escape or use his quirk. For Mr. Yagi, to win, he simply must touch you with all five of his fingers."

"Now," Tomura declares with an air of arrogance lacing his voice, "Who wants to go first"