The day after meeting Ranma, Pony and I headed to school together. In class, I sat down next to Sato and Shoji, the other biggest students in class greeting me.

“How are you?” Shoji asked, his eyes poking out over his mask. “I heard you were immensely injured after the battle.”

“I was a bit banged up, sure, but I think we all were,” I shrugged, throwing off the memory of purple fists. “It was a superhero fight, what else can you expect?”

“You weren’t freaked out?” Sato asked, rubbing his nose just a bit. “Those villains came out of nowhere! My mom didn’t want me to come to school for a while.”

“Nah, I kinda expected it,” I said.

“Expected it?” Shoji asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, all the comic books show superhero school kids getting attacked in their first few weeks, so it was about time for us too.”

Sato and Shoji blinked. Sato was the one who decided to comment. “Bowser-kun, reality isn’t like that.”

“And yet, it still happened.”

I don’t think they knew how to take that little explanation.

“Besides, I’m mostly happy we all came out alive and safe. Thank god the teachers came in to kick some ass.”

“Right?” Mineta walked over to join us, Jiro coming up as well. “I got so scared we were going to have to fight like that for hours! My head still hurts…”

I patted him on the shoulder. “I heard you gave a good accounting of yourself man. Nice work.”

“Those villains really didn’t know what they were doing though,” Jiro noted, leaning against a desk while swinging one of her earphone lobes around casually. “A couple of them were smarter, but really they were all newbies, right?”

“Some of them,” Shoji agreed. “Except for the purple one.”

“That guy was trained,” I grunted, scratching at my chin. “Or sounded like it, at least. He was confident. Not arrogant.”

“Is there a difference?” Sato asked.

“A large one,” Shoji said. “After all, while they can be confused, confidence tends to be tied to capability, rather than foolishness.”

“You think we’ll have to fight like that again anytime soon?” Mineta asked, sounding worried. He also glanced at Jiro’s skirt but quickly looked away with a blush. He’s learning. Kind of.

“Not at the school, I think. The teachers aren’t idiots. They’d pull out all the stops to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” I pointed out. “Plus, there is no way that Decay guy and Teleport dude will be able to do anything but run. The Quirk Registration Records would have their quirks listed.”

Hell, even my quirk was listed. Dragon-Turtle, put in almost a week after I’d shown up.

More students walked in.

“So, how many do you guys think you took out?” I asked them cheekily.

“We were supposed to count?” Sato asked, smiling just a bit.

“And do we get points for assists?” Mineta added.

A girl’s school uniform walking by itself joined us, Toru sounding excited. “Hey, did you watch the news last night!?”

“Oh right,” I replied, remembering. “I didn’t, but my friend Pony told me about it.”

“We showed up on-screen for a second!” she told us as she sat down in her seat. Though I couldn’t see it, I could imagine the wide smile going with her excited voice. Followed by a bit of sadness. “I didn’t stand out at all.”

“Toru…,” I said hesitantly. What am I supposed to say? The girl is LITERALLY invisible!

“Man, weird that we all showed up on the news like that,” Sato mumbled.

“Nah, that’s normal,” Jiro said. “A hero course getting attacked like that-”

She was cut off when my phone alarm rang. Jiro quirked an eyebrow at me as I got up. She gave a teasing smile. “Got a hot date to head to?”

“Not today, but let me know if you’re free this weekend,” I grinned at the blush that flashed across her face. Sorry Jiro, I may not be a Casanova, but you’re years too early to embarrass me. “But no, I have to act like the class president.”

I strode to the front of the class, bumping into Izuku as I walked past. “Ah, sorry. I was about to… huh.”

Everyone was already sitting in their seats. 19 high schoolers, sat calmly at the beginning of class? Yeesh, hero kids really were built differently.

“Awww, come on guys. I just became class president. Can’t any of you be unruly enough to give me a reason for this job?”

“You want us to be unruly?” Ida asked, sounding like I’d offended something deep in his soul.

“Yeah, how about it, Ida? Maybe head to the bathroom without permission?”

“I would never!”

“Ah, Bowser-kun!” Mina leaned forward. “Do you know who is going to be teaching us today?”

“No idea,” I shrugged. “The administration didn’t feel like telling me, and I haven’t had time to ask. Maybe All Might-sensei or Midnight- Kamanari, wipe that hopeful grin off your face, she’ll never give you a chance.”

“Oy!” Kamanari said, Mineta and Jiro chuckling at him.

Before I could joke around more, the door slid open. We all looked over at…

“Morning,” said a familiar figure wrapped up in an entire hospital's worth of medical supplies.

“Aizawa-sensei!?” Mina shouted in surprise.

“Excuse me, Mr. Mummy, have you seen our sensei?” I asked the bundle of bandages shuffling in.

“Cute,” Aizawa said, taking his spot at the head of the class while I walked back to my seat.

“That’s a pro for you, I guess,” Sato hesitantly said.

“Seriously, you all right?” I asked while taking my own seat.

“No, but it doesn’t matter,” Aizawa said.

“Does it really not?” Momo mumbled, looking horrified at the state of him.

“No. Because our fight isn’t over yet.”

“...Well that’s freaking ominous,” I mumbled.

“Right!?” Ochaco said, her eyes shaking.

Aizawa lowered his gaze, eyes glaring through his bandages. The class held their breath. “...The U.A. Sports Festival is drawing near.”

It felt like the tension snapped apart in an instant. “THAT’S A SUPER NORMAL SCHOOL EVENT! The sports festival!” the class said as a whole, cheering together.

“Man, I forgot this was an actual school!” Sato said loudly.

As for me, I held in a groan. Goddamn it, I knew I forgot something. “We’re having a tournament arc already!?”

“You need to stop comparing real life to manga and anime Bowser-kun. People might think you are chuunibyou, ribbit,” Tsuyu warned.

Tokoyami scoffed out of his beak, while I shrugged.

“I’ll stop when real life stops.”

“AHHHH, I’m so excite-” Kirishima roared, only for a hand to push into his face.

“Hold on, hold on!” Kamanari said, the lightning kid looking worried as he shut up Kirishima. “Is it okay to have a school festival right now? I mean, we did just get attacked by a small army of villains.”

“Yeah, what if they attack again,” Jiro added.

“The most televised event in all of Japan?” I asked. “Don’t we have tighter security than most government buildings when that goes down?”

“An exaggeration, but not too much of one,” Momo agreed. “And I assume public perception is part of why it’s continuing?”

“You got it in one,” Aizawa said. “Since we’re going ahead with it, it’ll show that the school is confident that our crisis control is airtight this time. We’re also going to have five times the police and hero presence we’ve had before. Don’t worry about the security from here on out. Instead, focus on the chance ahead of you.”

“The chance ahead of us?” I mumbled.

“Bowser-kun, you don’t know?” Izuku said, turning to look back at where I was sitting. “Have you never seen the UA Sports Festival?”

“Only some clips on the internet,” I said. “I know everyone calls it the ‘Olympics Killer’.”

“That’s a fair name,” Aizawa continued. “Our sports festival is one of the largest events in Japan, long since replacing the Olympics for our country.”

“It’s also a chance to get noticed!” Toru cheered, invisible hands waving.

“The top heroes in Japan watch the event,” Momo said. “Scouting us!”

“What, we’re all gonna put on a show to try and impress someone enough they’ll make us a sidekick?” I asked. What the hell, how hadn’t I heard about this?

“Yeah, but some people end up becoming sidekicks forever after high school. Especially if they’re dumb,” Jiro noted.

“...why are you pointing at me!?” Kamanari yelled when he noticed Jiro’s mocking finger.

Aizawa shuffled, bringing the attention back to him. “Naturally, interning under a popular pro hero is a good way to get noticed. That means higher status, more experience, and a brighter future.”

I frowned. Damn. He wasn’t wrong. I mean, even without powers that logic applied to most careers.

And it looked like the others felt the same way. The same tension I felt. Momo and Ochaco had determined looks on their faces. Ida looked more stern than usual. Bakugo was smirking wide enough that I could see it from the back of the class.

“This is a chance you’ll only get once a year. Three chances. If you want to be a hero,” Aizawa intoned deeply. “This is an event you can’t overlook!”

“...You hide it, but you have a real sense for drama,” I said to Aizawa.

“Blame Present Mic.”

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During lunch, I ended up joining Toru and Tokoyami, standing next to their desks.

“Ahhh, you two are so lucky! You both have quirks that allow you to stand out so easily!” Toru whined as she waved her arms in the air. “I don’t know how I’m going to show off during the Sports Festival at all!”

“Well, breathing fire helps,” I chuckled. “Of course, unlike you, sneaking around is pretty much impossible for me, even Tokoyami can at least hide behind something effectively if he ever needed to. I need to own being big and loud to get anywhere in life. More than a few heroes appreciate a stealthy type.”

“I don’t want to just be stealthy though!”

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The stealthiest person in class was also one of the most stand-out and outgoing ones. Oh, the irony. Then again, Izuku, the quiet kid, was also the one with the second most explosive quirk. At least Bakugo lived up to his powers…

“She is not wrong,” Tokoyami opened up a bowl of ramen and sighed at the scent that came from it. I chugged a protein shake while watching him stir the noodles within. Wait, when had he gotten that? We hadn’t gone to the lunchroom yet… Had he gotten it for drama's sake? Just to have the steam curling around him? “Despite my wishes, the festival watchers tend to pride a good show over good results. This is the darkness at the heart of heroism.”

“Ohhh, Tokoyami is being cool again!” Toru cheered. He sipped at his noodles without a hint that he’d heard that.

“I hate to say it, but you’re right,” I scratched at my cheek, my claws rubbing at the scales with a little ‘shf-shf’ sound. “I guess our training is going to end up going over showing off what you can really do… Toru, how are you with baseball bats? Or, how MUCH of you is invisible? Could someone take your hardened feces and turn them into-”

“BOWSER-KUN, WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING!?” Toru screamed in horror.

“I mean, it doesn’t have to be that, it could be your hair or something, it’s just easier to shape that into a weapon-”

“That is so gross!” she said while waving her arms, her voice positively terrified.

Was I the weird one here? Maybe my old days on internet forums full of inventive weebs was catching up to me. Oh, couldn’t hair be used as garrote wire? Like in Hitman, or Goblin Slayer? Or was that too dark?

“I’m nervous enough without you putting that into my head,” Toru grumbled, distracting me from my thoughts on the merits of teaching assassination techniques to minors. “I need to stand out!”

“Not much point in standing out if we don’t also show our usefulness after-”

A shout at the back drew my attention. “EVERYONE! I’M GONNA DO MY BEST!”

I looked behind me to see… what the hell?

“Ochaco-chan?” I mumbled. The cute gravity girl had a fist in the air, looking more like a boxer after winning a match than an adorable school girl.

“Y-Yeeeeah!” Mina, Izuku, and Ida hesitantly raised a hand in solidarity, while Mineta said something that made Tsuyu reprimand him.

Then she spun to face our direction, and I swear her eyes were alight with fire. “I’m gonna do my best!!!”

“...Dope.”

Wonder what that was about. Ah well. In the meantime, I’d come back to Toru about my theories on her body later. No idea if she could make weapons from her hair, but that might be an option.

----------------------------------------

In the lunchroom, Pony and I sat down alone.

“I completely forgot about the Sports Festival,” Pony admitted, her food already half-done. “Are you still going to have the training after school?”

“As long as people are willing to do them.”

“You might be training your competition,” she teased just a bit.

I shrugged. “Honestly, if someone benefits from the training sessions enough that they end up beating me, I’m not going to be mad. I’m gonna give the best showing I can to make sure some heroes notice me, but winning isn’t the goal. Just doing well.”

“Not everyone sees it that way,” Pony mumbled.

“Monoma?”

“Monoma-kun,” Pony said with a sigh. “He’s been pretty excited since he found out. He really wants to win.”

“We gotta a guy like that in our class too. Still, I can't blame them. A lot of us have to depend on a good showing to make sure a hero agency notices us. How about you, you gonna sidekick with your mom?”

“No,” Pony shook her head, long blonde hair flopping around. “I don’t want to do that. It feels like cheating? Plus, we already train with her. If I sidekick with someone, it should be someone I can learn new things from.”

Way more logical than I expected. But then, that was Pony.

“Are you really not worried about the festival?” Pony asked.

“Not really?” I said with a shrug. “I just need to show off what I am good at and get a decent agency willing to intern me for a bit. Don’t need to win it all to get what I want. Sure, the higher you place the more likely the top agencies will request ya, but there is plenty to learn in any hero agency if you work hard enough,” I then give her a savage looking smile. “Doesn’t mean I won’t try my hardest though and make sure that anyone that overcomes me earns every inch.”

I kind of had to. When I watched My Hero back in my world, it struck me as one of those Dragon Ball or Naruto types. Something that was going to be around for a WHILE, maybe with a few sequels too. Deku and the rest of the school was probably going to end up in one mess or another over and over again. I had to stay on top of my game if I wanted to survive.

…and I really didn’t want to become Piccolo, Tenshinhan or heaven help me Yamacha because I didn’t work to keep up.

“Well I am,” Pony said hesitantly. “There are going to be cameras! All of Japan is going to watch us!”

“Then it’s practice for when we become pro heroes since baring underground types like our homeroom teacher they tend to be in front of the camera a lot,” I toned back my casualness a bit. “It’ll be okay, Pony. We’ll train like crazy. Come up with nutso moves that draw the eye.”

Pony still looked nervous, but clenched a fist in determination. “Right! We’ll kick their butts!”

“Well, don’t know about that,” I said with a chuckle. “We might be competing with the other kids, but we’re all in the same boat. Any logical person would know we stand a better chance working together, showing all our merits, instead of trying to leave everyone else in the dust.”

----------------------------------------

Later on, looking out at a sea of students with angry looks on their faces outside our classroom, I sighed.

“Oh right… people aren’t logical.”

Looking out at the sea of General Education first year students while looking over Ochaco’s head, I barely noticed Mineta hopping onto my shoulder to get a better look. The grape kid stared out at everyone in shock.

“Wh-What are you all doing here!?” Mineta shouted.

“Scouting us out,” I said.

“Idiots,” Bakugo grumbled as he passed me by. “We made it out of the villain attack, so they wanna check us out before the Sports Festival.”

“Can you blame them?” I asked the weirdly calm hothead. “We’re probably the only first years to fight villains right now.”

“Of course I can blame them,” he walked up to the batch of students. “It’s pointless to waste time on shit like this. So why don’t you extras,” he looked over them all, his rage clear under a sea of calm. “Get out of my way.”

As Ida shouted out in shock at the rudeness, Mineta looked over at me. “Shouldn’t you stop him from pissing everyone off?”

“...” Goddamn it.

I walked up to join him. And as I did, the other students noticed me. They began to back away as eight-feet of scales, muscle, and shell moved to stand behind Bakugo. I looked around, before noticing one student standing in the crowd hesitantly. He didn’t speak, but he looked thoughtful.

“Hey Shinso. Ready for club?”

The brainwashing violet-haired kid looked surprised to be pointed out, but nodded as attention was drawn to him. “Yes, I am.”

“Good. It’s good that we can all go out and work hard together. Improving our powers and such. Because those of us who want to be heroes can’t be wasting time on bullshit like complaining things are ‘tough’ or ‘unfair’. Heroes don’t complain when a building falls on them. They just hold that shit up.”

Shinso kind of sighed. “Can you blame us? We can’t all hold up a building.”

“Neither could our ancestors. So they made cranes. They found a way,” I pointed out, looking at a small sea of students. “I know you all want to be heroes. No one who comes to UA wants anything less, except maybe the Support and Management Courses, but if you want it, know that those of us in the Hero Course have 25 hours in this school where we actually learn about hero work.”

Bakugo’s eyes narrowed up at me, but he didn’t speak, letting me continue. “The rest of the time, we train constantly. Every day. Shinso here has spent three hours after most school days training with us, same with some of the others. We actually opened a club, open to all students, just to try and train further. So if you’re here to try and scout us out, know that you’re only wasting your time and ours.”

“He’s not wrong you know,” the sea of students parted for Monoma. The blonde copycat had a smug grin on his face as he walked through, continuing on his way, with Keito and the other Class-B kids following. “If you really want to show up Class 1-A you need to work hard to make it happen or else you’ll make those of us actually going to do it look bad.”

"You have a problem with us?” Tetsutetsu, the kid of steel, and I am pretty sure Kirishima’s brother from another mother, boomed out just behind Monoma. “What the fuck are you doing here wasting time when you could be training to prove you deserve to be heroes more than us?!”

“Ahhh, that’s my line!” Kirishima roared.

“So if you all came to try and steal a spot?” I continued. “Then feel free. I’ll even respect you for it. But you better be ready to work your fucking asses off for it.”

“Heh!” Bakugo smirked, grinning just a bit. “Steal a spot? No way. I’m gonna sweep all these extras away. And you along with them.”

“Bring it.”

Bakugo and I shared a wide grin, then turned and started walking. Shinso followed, along with the other hero students.

“Hey!” one pink-haired girl with cat ears and tail asked as I walked by. I looked over at her. “Is the club really open to anyone?”

“Get a damn gym uniform and come along. UA Sentai is open for business.”

Mineta was shaking on my shoulder as I walked along. “Ahhhh. I’m never going to stand on you when something like that happens again!”

I laughed, continuing on.