Saiki's Disastrous Life at UA High

Chapter 43- Back to School

The class chats happily, sharing their stories from internships. Kirishima and Sero make quite the scene over Bakugo's slicked-down hair, which promptly explodes to its normal position when Bakugo's anger skyrockets. Hairo explains to Kaminari the hostage situation he helped diffuse, though the whole class ends up listening, his story greatly exaggerated yet entertaining to listen to. Asui mentions her ordeal as well, not expecting Hairo's excited reaction. He begs her to explain what happened, and she does, though her story is dull compared to Hairo's.

"If we want to talk about the ones who really changed, it was those four," Denki mentions, causing the class to turn their attention to those who have remained silent. Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya are talking amongst themselves near Todoroki's desk, and I'm in my seat, attempting to avoid the inevitable conversation.

"Oh, yeah! The Hero Killer!" Sero exclaims, his collar held tightly by an angry Bakugo, though he doesn't seem to mind.

"Glad you guys made it back alive, seriously!" Kirishima adds, his collar in Bakugo's other fist.

"I worried about you too." Yaoyorozu frets, joining the conversation.

"I'm surprised you won't the one to defeat him, Saiki," Asui says, tilting her head. "Your quirk would be more than sufficient enough, it seems."

"Hey, the Hero Killer is no joke! I mean, it's in the name! He kills heroes!"

"Yeah, but still. Saiki killed that Nomu thing easily. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who killed the three that attacked Hosu."

"Yeah, I heard they were plucked from the city and thrown into the sun!"

"That had to be Saiki, right?"

"Well, was it you?"

"Tell us!"

Why does it matter? I mumble, annoyed with the attention I'm getting.

I stopped the Nomu to save people, not to gain attention.

"Don't you want recognition?"

"That is if you really did it."

"He's not denying that he did."

"But he's not admitting it either. Why?"

Not everyone wants recognition. The class falls silent for a moment, staring at me in confusion.

"You were lucky Endeavor showed up. Too bad I wasn't there; I could've saved you..." Kaido mutters, breaking the silence and covering his face dramatically.

"Endeavor is so cool! I want to have as much passion as he does one day!" Hairo yells, pumping the air with a fist.

"I think you have more than he does," Mera chuckles, watching Hairo's excitement seep out of him. Todoroki glances at his classmates, inwardly flinching as his father gets all of the credit, but remembering to stay quiet.

"Yeah, he saved us." The heterochromic teen mutters, avoiding looking in my direction. Bakugo eyes the teen, then me, suspicious. Midoriya looks at Todoroki, sighing. We know not to say anything, though they seem to be having difficulties with it.

"I heard he was working with Dark Reunion," Kaido informs, clenching his right fist tightly. "I'll never escape those monsters..."

"You know they're the League of Villains, right?"

"That's what they want you to believe."

"No, they've always been League of Villains."

"I regret to inform you that you are incorrect."

"Dude."

"Anyway, have you seen the video?" Kaminari asks, interrupting the argument. Most of the class shakes their head, confused.

"I have!" Hairo beams, raising his hand as if he were asking the teacher (who hasn't arrived yet, he's probably sleeping in the teacher's lounge [Kuniharu is late again, Saiki refused to help this morning]) a question. "He's actually super passionate and tenacious!"

"Yeah, he's kinda cool!" Kaminari agrees, smiling.

"Kaminari, Hairo!" Midoriya complains, Iida standing beside him. Kaminari and Hairo realize their mistake, covering their mouths.

"Dude, I'm so sorry!" Hairo apologizes, tears welling up in his eyes as guilt, a rare emotion for him, sweeps through his being.

"No, no, it's okay, you're fine," Iida assures, though not in a very reassuring tone. "It's true that he's quite a tenacious villain. I understand why people might think he was cool. But instead of helping the world, his beliefs led him to cold-blooded murder. No matter his motives, killing cannot be condoned. To keep anyone else from suffering like me, well..." Iida looks up, determination suddenly washing over him as he gestures robotically and raises his voice. "I promise, I will strive to be the perfect hero!" He finishes his speech, realizing he had the attention of the entire class.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Midoriya agrees, excited for his friend, who has been downcast for a while now.

"And to do that, we need to work hard!" Hairo adds, glancing at the clock. "Speaking of which, class is about to begin! Let's get ready for another awesome day of learning!" He cheers, ignoring the class's annoyed moans and sitting in his seat.

All Might meets us, explaining that we will be doing an exercise outside and that we will have to change into our uniforms. The class nods, making their way to the designated area. Once there, All Might briefly explains that they will be doing rescue training, though it's more of a race than anything.

"Prepare yourselves! You're about to step into Field Gamma! Inside is an area full of factories that form an intricate labyrinth, so good luck finding your way around! You'll be competing in groups of five, each person starts from a different location on the outskirts of the model city. I'll send a distress signal, and you do what you must to rescue me! Whoever finds me first, wins! Try to keep the property damage to a bare minimum, please." All Might concludes, pointing toward Bakugo.

"Why are you pointing at me?" He grumbles, though he knows full well. I exhale softly, amused. Bakugo eyes me, sighing when I shrug.

You know he's right. I say directly into his head, so no one but Bakugo can hear me.

Yeah, yeah. Whatever. He replies, rolling his eyes and returning his attention to All Might.

"All right! First group, get to your places!"