When we got back to the class after changing back into our normal clothes, I wrote my name and phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Momo, who did the same before passing it on. By the time we were all in class, I had a list of names.

Not everyone signed. Mineta, Shoji, and Deku were of course not able to sign just yet. Considering two of them were injured and one looked like a cosplay of a concrete shoggoth. Poor Shoji...

Bakugo didn’t sign. I was so ‘shocked’. In other words, it was pretty much what I expected. The kid was mostly ignoring the world, almost depressed.

Shoto didn’t sign as well, but that was only slightly less surprising. He struck me as the type of guy who loved training by himself. Everyone else signed it though, which was honestly what surprised me. I’d figured at least a couple of the kids would be too lazy to join. They certainly had more discipline than I did in my first go around in high school.

That or they were just signing it. A signature wasn’t the same as an obligation. Not until I got the lawyers involved at least.

As I huffed an amused chuckle at my own joke, the door slid open. I looked up, expecting the science teacher. Instead, the tall form of Shoji stood in the doorway. He had some raw sections of skin, and looked as though he’d showered recently, but otherwise looked pretty good. Even had his mask back. And Mineta followed him.

“Hey, what’s up guys!” Kaminari said, turning to look at them with a grin. “You missed a crazy day!”

“I believe we were part of that day,” a weary Shoji said from one of the mouths of his tentacle.

“Don’t even start!” Mineta flopped down into his seat wearily. He groaned, laying his head on his desk. “My whole body is sore!”

“Look’s like you healed up pretty well though!” Mina said, poking at his cheek playfully. “I gotta say, I didn’t know you had anything like that in you. That was pretty cool.”

“Yes, well done!” Momo said in agreement.

Almost magically, all his exhaustion seemed to fade. He grinned. It was an honestly happy smile, a bit of joy in it. Then he seemed to realize that while Mina was poking him playfully on the cheek, her thighs were at his eye level. I know, because I saw it the second his smile shifted to a joyous leer.

I walked over and smacked my palm down his desk before he could get a really good look surprising Mina and Mineta.

“Eep!” Mina yelped.

“Ya!” he jumped in surprise, staring up at me. He immediately got defensive. “Wha-What was that fo-”

“Here,” I handed him a pencil, then pointed at the paper I’d smacked in front of him. He stared down at it. “You should join the after school club. I think you can be a damn good hero man. You too, Shoji. You’ve got good powers, some serious fucking grit, and a lot of cojones.”

“C-Cojones?” Mineta quirked his head, confused. “What are cojones?

“Spanish. Means a man’s testicles, or guts.”

In the background, Mina busted out laughing. I ignored it to say the hardest part.

“Also. I’m gonna apologize for being a lot meaner than you deserved,” I felt embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have said you have no redeeming features. You’ve got spirit. So, I’m sorry.”

Mineta stared at me. Then he grinned, hopping up onto the desk. “Ooooohhhh! Now that you’ve seen my greatness, you’ve finally apologized! Well, there couldn’t have been any other result!” he said with a bit of smugness.

I reached out and grabbed him by his head while he was still preening. His smug grin froze a bit as I leaned forward and whispered so the others couldn’t hear, my eyes staring into his.

“Kid. I gave you an apology. Learn to quit while you’re ahead.”

“...Y-Yeah.”

“And please, calm it down with how you treat girls. It’s okay to be a pervert. Almost everyone likes sex, it’s not a crime. It’s not okay to intrude on the privacy and space of others. So tone it back and I won’t make a complaint to faculty to see if detention or worse punishments change your mind. Learn from your mistake.”

Somehow, I don’t think that part sunk in as much, as he mostly just grimaced a bit. That was fine. I made my point. I let go of him and grinned.

“Still. I underestimated you. So sorry and nice job.”

The science teacher came in then, and I sat down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mineta glare at the paper. Then he signed it and passed it to Shoji.

Okay. Mineta might grow on me just yet.

I looked at the teacher only to blink.

She looked completely normal. She wore a science lab coat and a small red mask, but looked otherwise normal. No craziness to her costume, no mutations. She looked us over. “All right, kids. I’m Vector, the UA science teacher. Today we’ll be going over the curriculum. Take out your textbooks.”

“So normal…” Sato and I said in twin surprise. All of our teachers had been just a bit crazy so far, or at least looked super out there. Present Mic was loud, Midnight was pervy, Aizawa was gruff and lazy. This was the first somewhat normal teacher.

Mina leaned over to Kaminari, who chuckled at whatever she said. The teacher, who had been writing on the board, clearly heard it.

She spun around. That was when I realized her pupils shifted until they looked like a pair of red dot sights in a black pupil. “No talking!”

Her left hand pulled a rubber ball from her pocket before she tossed it up. As the ball came down, she bounced her hip outwards. The rubber ball went zooming past Momo’s ear, bounced off the wall, then cross the room to hit Mina in the back of the head before snapping to the side and bouncing off Kaminari’s chin before landing back in her palm. The whole thing took less than a second.

“Ow!/Owie!” Kaminari and Mina shouted, grabbing their head and chin respectively.

She shook her head. “Science is full of danger. It is a wonderful art, giving us knowledge of the inner workings of the universe! But to study science is to contest with a world that is unforgiving, beautiful, and dangerous as a hurricane!” She bounced the rubber ball in her hand, smiling beautifully. “Be silent, learn, and you will learn to rule the natural world itself!”

I swear to god, she somehow managed to look both incredibly enthusiastic and terrifying. Actually, she kind of reminded me of the female Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. Same energy, if different in appearance.

Sato and I shared a look.

Okay, fine. Every teacher at UA was weird.

------

After science, we were left in the class to do a bit of cleanup. Traditional class things in Japan. But sweeping up took like six seconds, then we started chatting about the training.

“Honestly, I wish I had a way to track people,” Kirishima said with some chagrin. “I ran through the whole place trying to find Asui-san, and she just went right back to where I started.”

“I had to,” Tsuyu said bluntly. “You’re too tough for me to beat, Kirishima-san, and I didn’t want to run around and get tired or try to get you with the capture tape while you tried to punch me.”

Kirishima brightened a bit, though he still seemed a bit down about his loss.

“Speaking of that fight,” Kaminari said, the lightning kid looking a bit disheartened himself. “I really need to learn a new way to control my powers. They kinda worked while I was touching Kirishima, but then I went all… you know.”

“Oh, we know,” Jiro said, grinning at him as she swung one of her earphone jacks around and around. “It was hilarious!”

“Heeeeeey,” Kaminari frowned at her, though he didn’t seem that offended.

A similar discussion was being had on the other side of the room.

“Yaomomo, your power was so good!” Mina said with some contrition. “It was so hard to get through those plates too!”

“Well, I attempted to use a metal that would be tough to corrode through without compromising strength,” Momo said humbly, though she was also smiling. “But I underestimated the strength of the acids you can create! Are you able to change the chemical mixture you use on the fly?”

“I don’t know!” Mina said, Momo blinking at the enthusiastic denial. “I never thought about it. I usually just make it strong or weak as I need.”

“Oh, that is interesting,” Momo pressed a finger to her chin. “Maybe if we could figure out what sort of liquid your acid technically is, you can figure out other possibilities for it? We would need samples, but-”

“Shoto’s power was pretty damn overwhelming,” I told Shoji, Mineta, and Iida, all of us standing around Shoji. “I’m pretty strong, but the ice he was making was still strong enough to slow me down. It doesn’t help that his instincts are top-notch. Kid has a reaction time like lightning.”

“Indeed,” Shoji agreed. “His quirk is quite formidable.”

“And his technique is impeccable as well,” Iida said, nodding to Ochaco as she came over to join us. She’d been with Kirishima and Mina trying to stop Bakugo from leaving, before his grumpy ass headed out the door, and looked a bit downtrodden that she failed. “Truly a formidable set of talents.”

“You did good too though!” Ochaco cheered up, looking up at me with her head craned back, pumping a fist as she spoke enthusiastically. “You kept smashing all his ice! And I didn’t know you could breathe fire!”

“I can’t, actually. I’m just really good at rap,” I joked. “Thank you though. Felt good to let loose like that. It was fun, pushing myself to my limits in a fight. Hopefully we get more chances to do that soon. How about you guys?”

“I’m afraid I didn’t have the same experience,” Shoji said. “My own fight was more based on attrition, rather than any sort of exhilarating experience, thanks to Mineta.”

“I’m not apologizing,” Mineta said, crossing his arms. “Because you punched me a bunch! That whole fight was terrifying!”

“Our own battle was interesting,” Iida said to Ochaco. “I found your abilities more useful for direct combat than I expected. Manipulation of gravity is quite formidable!”

“I liked that you acted like a villain!” Ochaco said cheerfully, giggling a bit. “You were so cheesy!”

“Hey, cheesy villains are fun,” I said, patting Iida on his back. “Real life villains are dicks. Cheesy villains are at least enjoying their lives.”

I suddenly hoped that the Big Bad of this universe wasn’t cheesy. I’d hate it if my words bit me in the ass.

“Ochaco-san,” Kaminari said, walking over. “We better grab those books.”

“Oh, right! See you guys soon!”

The gravity girl and lightning lad headed out, and I drifted over to Tokoyami. “Hey bro. How are you?”

“I’m contemplating my battle,” he said seriously. “As well as deciding how to counter my own weaknesses. For one who rests in the darkness, finding the way to truth is a challenge only the unwavering may succeed in.”

I stared at him for a good moment. So wait. Tokoyami was some kind of emo kid? Why hadn’t I known this? “...That sounds good. Granted, Momo really went all in with the gear. I think you did as well as someone could considering the circumstances. Flashbangs and tear gas are MEAN.”

“I didn’t mind,” Tokoyami said nonchalantly. “In a battle, I would be offended if my opponent did not put their full effort into the fight, whether it ends in my win or loss.”

“Same,” I said, thinking of a few times. Most of them were related to video games or card games though. “Few things more annoying than fighting someone and finding out they didn’t have enough respect to put everything they got into it. By the way, I’d love to spar with you one day dude.”

He smiled just a bit. “Oh? Is that so? You may find me to be more of a challenge than you believe.”

“I got a vivid imagination,” I grinned at him in challenge. Fighting Dark Shadow would be such a damn blast.

The door to the class slid open and Deku walked into the room. Kirishima’s loud voice rang out.

“Oh, Midoriya’s here!” The redhead went over to the greenette excitedly. “Good work!”

“Ah?” Deku’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Man, I don’t know what you were saying during the match,” Kirishima continued. “But you were fired up!”

Not seeing any reason not to, I gave Tokoyami a polite nod and walked over, Mina, Aoyoma, Sato, and Sero joining in.

“I can’t believe you fought evenly with Bakugo!” Sero said, the tape guy grinning. “He was first in the entrance exam!”

“You did a good job dodging!” Mina said excitedly.

“And throwing godlike punches,” I added, standing over the rest of the group.

“Yeah, you guys were so cool we had to give it our all as well!” Sato said.

Aoyoma, a smile on his face, spoke up. “You were far from elegant, but-”

“You kicked ass/You did a good job dodging!” Mina and I said in unison, the pink girl bouncing up and down excitedly as she repeated herself with a wide grin.

“H-Huh?” Deku said at the flood of praise.

Everyone introduced themselves to Deku, with Tsuyu and Mineta coming in as well.

“Seriously dude, you were great,” I told him seriously. “But seriously, we got to work on that quirk of yours hurting you like that.”

“Ah,” he rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. I’m still getting the hang of things.”

“I feel for you!” Kirishima pointed at a scar above his eye. “When I was a kid, I cut myself with my quirk.”

“Accidentally crushed a cup of chocolate milk in my hand and cut myself,” Sato said in agreement.

“I accidently broke my kitchen counter while I was still getting used to my strength,” I added. “It takes time, but you’ll figure it out. You should sign up for the after school club we’re gonna make.”

“After school club?” Deku asked, embarrassment turning into curiosity.

“It was Bowser’s idea,” Kirishima said, pointing a thumb at me. “We want to get together and train with the other hero class after school, trade ideas and spar!”

“Oh, that does sound interesting,” Deku said thoughtfully.

“Then I’ll get the sign-up sheet for you!” I turned to get it, noting Iida scolding Tokoyami for sitting on his desk, but ignored it to grab the sheet. While I was doing that, Ochaco and Kaminari came back in. I’d just picked up the sheet when Momo came up to me.

“Bowser-san,” she said politely. “Are you ready to go to the administration office?”

“Yeah, just need to grab Izuku’s signature,” I told her.

“Wonderful! Oh, what about your friends from I-B?” she asked with a hint of worry.

“They’ll meet us there, don’t worry. Let me just… Oh… Right.”

Deku was gone.

Somehow, despite everything, I’d forgotten that Deku was going to have his little moment with Bakugo in front of the school. Not a little moment actually. A BIG moment.

...A moment I’d have to miss.

Damn it. I’d really wanted to hear Ochaco’s whole ‘the fated battle between men!’ thing. That was adorable. But I’d...

“I’ll have him sign it later I guess. Iida!” I called for the bespectacled kid as I grabbed my bag. “We’re headed out.”

“Understood!” he said, waving his hands jerkily.

Momo got her own bag and we headed out together.

------

“So Bowser-san, who are we meeting?” Momo asked me. We were walking in line, Momo in between us with Iida on her left and me on her right.

“My friend Pony Tsunotori and her classmates,” I explained. “I don't know who she’s bringing, but they’ll be there for the same reason as us. Hopefully, if the teachers give us permission, we can all sit down and organize this whole thing correctly.”

“Will there be a kaichou?” Iida asked, looking VERY interested in the position of club president. “Or a captain, possibly, considering the physical nature of our studies.”

“Maybe,” I said thoughtfully. After school clubs in Japan were serious business in my old world, and they’d continued that way here. They weren’t just a way to hang out. They were a serious commitment and could look DAMN good on a college application. And at a school like this, that was even more so. “For now, let’s just get permission. I don’t want to decide on a captain before we actually have a club.”

“That would be logical,” Momo agreed, Iida stroking his chin behind her as we approached the administration office.

“Bowser!” Pony’s voice drew my attention. She was waiting outside of the door with Kendo and Monoma. She waved as we walked up. “You have a sign up sheet!”

“Yep, right here,” I handed it to her while Monoma smirked at us.

“OHOHOHOHO! So Class 1-A arrives after us!? I guess you aren’t as dedicated as one would believe!”

Momo and Iida stared at him, nonplussed, as he began to laugh, giving them the anime crazy eyes. “Class A is supposed to be better than Class B, so isn’t that strange! PERHAPS BEING ON TOP HAS LED YOU TO BECOME LAZY! HAHAHAHA-”

Kendo karate-chopped in the back of his head, Momo and Iida gaping in shock at the sight of him falling to the ground while Pony and I watched. “W-What!?”

“Sorry about that,” Kendo said casually, smiling at them. “He’s not a very good human being.”

“So brutal,” Iida whispered in shock.

“Monoma’s used to it,” I said. “Guys, this is Pony Tsunotori, my best friend in the world.”

“Hi!”

“Itsuka Kendo, a badass martial arts chick.”

“I like that description!” Kendo said with a fist raised proudly.

“And Neito Monoma, a living meme.”

“Hello,” Monoma said weakly, raising a hand to wave from his position on the floor.

“This is Momo Yaoyorozu, a living cheat code to the universe.”

She bowed politely, then blinked. “Living cheat code?”

“And this is Tenya Iida. He’s fast as fuck, boy.”

“I do not approve of your language, but you are correct,” Tenya said seriously. “Greetings.”

“So, let's go in there and ask for permission to punch each other,” I said, knocking lightly before opening the door and entering.

“Maybe let’s not word it that way,” Pony said as she followed me in.

Inside the office, Ectoplasm, our mathematics teacher, was standing near Aizawa and Vlad, who were sitting at their desks talking with him. The trio looked up at our entrance, confusion on their faces as we came around to approach them.

“Kids? What are you doing here?” Ectoplasm said. Gotta say, his voice was badass. “Is there something wrong.”

“No, Ectoplasm-sensei,” Momo said. “We came to ask for something, and we wanted to understand what the process would be.”

“Oh?” Aizawa leaned back in his chair. “And you needed classmates from both A and B?”

“It’s something both classes wanted,” Pony said, handing the sign-up sheets to Vlad. “We would like to create an after school club to train together.”

“And we’d like to have use of some of the facilities if possible,” I added as Vlad and Aizawa took a look at the sheets. “I looked into it, and there didn’t seem to be any clubs available for that already.”

“Because they’d fall apart in the middle of the year,” Aizawa said with a bit of sass. “Students eventually become interns, then sidekicks in some cases. It’s not really worth creating a club when most of the students involved in it will disappear for weeks to do other work.”

“That’s something we can easily work around,” I said. “It doesn’t need to be an everyday thing. As long as we can get a chance to meet up and compare notes, spar, share ideas, play out scenarios, that could be valuable for us.”

“He may be from Class A, but he’s right,” Monoma said.

“Dude… you gotta let that grudge go.”

“Monoma, you would listen to someone from Class A?” Vlad asked, as though some deep betrayal had happened.

“Never mind, I see where it comes from.”

Both Monoma and Vlad ignored me, while Kendo and Pony sighed. Monoma continued.

“Vlad-sensei, I know. But having time after class to dedicate to our heroic studies can be good. Plus, it was also Pony’s idea.”

“Really?” Vlad looked over at her. She nodded.

“Well, I honestly don’t care as long as I don’t have to spend time on it,” Aizawa said bluntly.

“Gotta take care of that sparkling social life, huh?” I joked.

He gave me a glare, while Vlad coughed out a laugh. “That sounds like something someone who doesn’t want their new club to be approved would say.”

“Sorry,” I said quickly. He smirked just a bit, speaking again.

“The process for a club is the same as every other school in Japan. You need a room or facility, an advisor, and a kaicho. I think we can sign off on you using one of the Battle Grounds as long as Cementoss has no issue with repairing whatever damage you all cause. Ken’s usually okay with it, says it’s good for his training, but it would be polite for you to ask. You’ll need an advisor as well, and like I said, I’m not doing it on top of my other responsibilities.”

“I’m afraid I would be in the same boat,” Vlad said seriously. Then he looked over at Ectoplasm.

“I believe I can help,” the tall teacher said. “I do have the mathematics club, but my quirk allows me to help multiple clubs and individuals if need be. I’ll extend an offer to the other teachers if you like? I know Midnight would help.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Aizawa said with an annoyed huff.

“If you could let some of the general education, support, and business students know they can join up as well, that would be good,” I said.

Everyone looked at me, surprised. Aizawa quirked an eyebrow. “May I ask why?”

“Because learning how to defend yourself until the police or a hero can arrive and save you is a good skill to have. Besides, it helps everyone. We have more kids to practice with, we can train the general education kids that want to eventually shift to the hero course, the support course gets a chance to really work on their tech, and the business course will interact with the people they might one day be working with.”

“Hm,” Aizawa folded up the sign-up sheet. “Well, I’ll let you spread the word,” he told Vlad. “Now, how about a leader?”

“Iida and Kendo,” I said quickly. Both of them stared at me, surprised.

“Bowser-kun, don’t you want to be kaicho?” Pony asked me.

“Or me!” Monoma said, pointing at his own face.

I gave him a look before turning to Vlad and Aizawa.

“Nah, I’m good. I think we should have a leader from each class, so that both Hero classes are represented, rather than any sort of favoritism. Iida should be a kaicho because he’s a responsible dude who would take the job seriously and do everything he can to make the club work. Kendo should lead because she can handle anyone who gets uppity, doesn’t take any shit, and is all around cool. So they have my vote,” I looked over at Monoma. “That, and I’m worried that Monoma’s first decree if he became president is that Class A students have to bow every time he passes.”

Monoma seemed to think about that. Then he smiled. A beautiful, childlike smile.

Dude had issues…

“All right then,” Aizawa got to his feet. “Always nice when people add more work to my plate.”

“Sorry, sensei,” Momo said, Pony nodding in agreement.

He waved it off. “Not your fault. It’s a good idea. I’ll get this started, maybe send Cementoss your way if he has any suggestions for where to practice. You all come up with how you want this little club to be set up. Hopefully you don’t come to me a month from now with excuses for why it didn’t work.”

“None of us have resolve that weak,” Monoma said.

Aizawa smirked a bit, and walked off.

“Thanks, sensei,” I called to Aizawa, getting a wave. I turned to Ectoplasm and Vlad. “Same to you. Thank you very much. We’ll make you proud.”

------

Once we left the room, we stood in the hallway.

“Bowser,” Iida said. “Are you sure about this? This whole thing was your idea. I can step down if you’d like to lead with Kendo-san.”

“And Pony’s,” I said, nodding to her as she smiled. “And I’m sure. And if you do step down, I’m nominating Momo,” I looked over at her. “In fact, you were just as much a candidate as Iida. I had to pick between you two, since she’s got as many qualifications as you do.”

“Ah,” Momo blinked up at me, looking a little hurt. “Then, why didn’t you pick me?”

“There wasn’t a reason. I flipped a coin,” Momo and Iida sweatdropped, while Pony slammed my side. “What! They’re both super-smart and dedicated students! Both could be great leaders for us. So I couldn’t decide.”

“And me?” Kendo asked, looking a little confused. “Why did you suggest me? We’ve only met once.”

“Because of Pony,” I explained. “She told me that you’ve already taken a bit of a leadership role in Class B. Monoma’s attitude already makes me think that others in the class might be feeling the same, so I knew we’d need two leaders. And I’m a good judge of character. You strike me as a leader right off the bat. After all, you got that awesome onee-san energy.”

“He’s right,” Pony said, nodding quickly. “You sort of act like everyone’s big sister already!”

“I still say I should just be the overall leader,” Monoma said, brushing back his hair with a dramatic cartoon flourish. Then he became a bit more serious. “But I can accept Kendo.”

“That said, we’ll all help you as much as possible,” I bowed. “So, captains. Let’s go draw up some plans together?”

Iida and Kendo shared a look. Then she raised a determined fist, while he adjusted his glasses. “Okay. Then I will humbly accept.”

“Let get this started then! Let’s go to a cafe and talk it out!” Kendo said cheerfully. “Come on!”

“Oh, but what should we name our club?” Momo asked, before we could leave. “Something simple, like the hero club?”

“No, it needs to be much more dramatic!” Monoma said, waving a hand. “Like the Monoma Troupe!”

“The Koopa Troopas,” I said jokingly. Although I wouldn’t have minded if they said yes, just for the hilarity factor.”

“You just stole my idea!” Monoma said, scowling at me.

“I mean, I did steal it, but not from you,” I admitted.

“I want us to be the UA Sentai!” Pony said, skipping forward to look at us. “Because we’re going to be heroes. And we’re going to work together. Just like the Super Sentai.”

“Hmm,” Iida rubbed his chin. “It does carry heroic connotations. And they have a well-respected history in Japan.”

Welcome to the future of Japan, where Jojo, Pokemon, and Super Sentai have the same significance as any mythology or history of my previous time period. Truly, I live in enlightened times.

“That might make people think we’re a military unit,” Momo said worriedly. She had a point. Sentai was used mostly for the heroes nowadays, but it was still used for it’s previous connotations.

“Then we’ll be the UA Super Sentai,” Kendo said, rubbing Pony’s head. “It’s a good name.”

“It’s a proper nerd name. I love it,” I said with a grin. “Hell, there’s even six of us! Clearly I’m the Pink Sentai, since I’m the prettiest.”

“Sixth Sentai!” Monoma called before they could process that. “The coolest and best every time!”

“Wait, then which of us is Red?” Kendo asked Iida, who seemed lost that this conversation was even happening.

“Which Sentai can be girls?” Momo asked Pony, sounding more like she was asking for help with her studies than about hypothetically becoming a mecha piloting super hero.

We headed to the cafe, joking about that all the while.