After moving in, the students started to get used to this new environment.
Everyone seemed to be getting along—even Mineta was behaving, much to the relief of the female students.
Sam, however, was struggling.
He was happy to have his own floor and own bathroom. But being in such a cramped environment reminded him too much of his days in Rwanda.
Back then, he was forced to sleep in Barracks with kids much older than him. Despite his strength and skill at the time, all those other kids had strong quirks.
If they ganged up on him, they could have killed him.
Because of that, Sam never got much sleep. He could never trust the other children there. They were becoming more and more like the psychopaths the fingers wanted them to be.
He remembered vividly the expressions of joy and relief when they were butchering the enemy.
Seeing that, and having to sleep under the same roof with such individuals, was not comfortable in the slightest.
Luckily, he had Zola.
Zola was the only other person to not succumb to desire.
They didn't trust any of the others, so they would spend some nights by their lake.
It would get cold and rainy, but they had each other back then. They would hold each other for warmth as they slept in the grass.
Now, he lay in a bed. All alone.
Staring at the ceiling.
Comparing the students to the psychos in the Pale Hand was not fair.
They were innocent. Too innocent.
But he knew, one of them was hiding a dark secret.
Until he figured out who it was, he was going to remain cautious.
He decided to get out of bed, despite it being 4 in the morning.
He still had nightmares and slept poorly.
He stood up, taking a deep breath and stretching his body.
He was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs, as usual when he slept.
Hearing the satisfying cracks of his joints as he stretched, he got changed into his workout clothes.
He decided to use the staircase to go down.
After a minute, he reached the bottom.
He was dressed in his under armor shirt and his shorts, along with some nice sneakers.
He stretched a bit before heading outside. He would run around the school a few times.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Before he could start his exercise, his phone started ringing.
He had a feeling who it was, so he checked it out and saw that it was none other than Rumi.
She knew what time he would be up. After hanging out with her and training with her last semester, she got to know his habits. She knew he rarely slept so it isn't surprising to get a phone call this early.
He brought it to his ear.
"Rumi, good morning."
He said with a smile as he opened the door outside.
He took a step and felt the morning breeze hit his skin.
"Yo! I knew you'd be up."
"I take it you had a night patrol, otherwise you'd be sleeping."
"Bingo!"
Sam scoffed.
He walked towards a bench outside the dorm.
"Anyway, what's up?"
"Can't I call you?"
Sam smiled.
"Sure you can, it's just…"
Sam's smile fell as he looked down.
"What's wrong?"
He heard Rumi's voice again—much softer this time.
He hesitated, but he decided to be honest with her. He trusted her more than anyone.
"It's just… I'm still thinking about them… about HIM."
He shakily admitted.
He heard a sigh from the phone.
"I see… you're thinking of Ra again."
"How couldn't I? This isn't some run-of-the-mill crook. This is a trained killer. I… I don't know what to do."
Sam was honestly scared. Not for himself—he feared for his peers. And Rumi.
He only truly feared one creature and that being should still be in Africa. He sent a puppet after him, so for now he should be safe from him… right?
He shook those thoughts out. Right now the biggest problem was Ra. The League was definitely getting more dangerous.
That little punk Shigaraki finally grew up a bit. He was getting more and more dangerous. He's building something dangerous.
But he believed they were nothing compared to Pale Hand.
"Sam… I get it. I get that you're scared. But you're not alone. I've always got your back. You don't need to worry."
Sam wistfully sighed.
He really hoped that was true, but he had to be realistic.
"Rumi… this isn't something I can just ignore. They are going to do everything in their power to take me. I need to be ready for them."
Sam stood up.
"I don't want to fight. I didn't plan on ever fighting again. But that doesn't seem to be how things will shake out… it looks like I'm going to need to get serious."
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the sunrise, feeling a cold determination in his soul.
"Sam, you're not thinking-"
"I am… I have to do this."
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
He really hated this, but he was out of options.
"It looks like… I'm going to have to get a goddamn hero license."
Sam hated that those words were spat from his mouth. But he had to fight. It was time for Blank to enter the fray.
———
"Alright class. Soon, you're going to have your next challenge…"
Back in homeroom, everyone was seated—ready for another test.
"You're going to get your provisional licenses."
Everyone—minus Sam—cheered in excitement.
"Silence."
He activated his quirk and made them all shut up.
Sam just rolled his eyes.
'He's not scary. He just looks like a rabid hobo when he does that.'
He scoffed.
Aizawa felt his eye twitch from that scoff. His gut told him Sam was thinking about something stupid.
He just sighed.
"The difficulty for this exam is not easy. It has a roughly 50% passing rate."
The students all gasped.
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"That's why we are going to begin working on your ultimate moves."
Sam couldn't help but groan.
Everyone looked back at him.
Aizawa just scowled.
"Is there something you wish to say, Suzuki?"
Sam mentally facepalmed. He knew he had to be problematic at some times, but he didn't want to be an asshole all the time.
But this ultimate move crap was stupid as hell.
He felt he had to speak up.
"Permission to speak freely, Sensei?"
He politely asked—shocking the students who were prepared for Sam being an ass again.
Aizawa had a bad feeling, but wanted to move on already.
"…fine."
"Ultimate moves? Isn't that just fancy hero gibberish for 'Unique applications of one's ability?' Ultimate move makes it sound like it's a video game. If someone has an 'Ultimate move,' just using it once or twice will make it easy to predict."
Sam really hated this 'Ultimate Move' thing.
The students started to murmur about Sam's point.
"He does kinda have a point."
"But we should still train our quirks."
"I know, but if it becomes widely known it can be predicted."
The conversations continued and Sam could see Aizawa rub his temple.
"Quiet!"
Everyone shut up right away, not wanting to piss him off further.
Aizawa looked back at Sam.
"You are right, Suzuki. But using one's quirk uniquely is how heroes become strong. Endeavor is an expert in controlling his quirk. That's what ultimate moves are."
That seemed to ease the worries of the students.
He could respond that 'control is one thing and making a showy move is another,' but since he was trying to get one of those dumb licenses, he would throw Aizawa a bone this time.
"I see. Excuse the interruption."
Aizawa wasn't expecting that. He narrowed his eyes.
'What's wrong with him?'
He would figure that out later.
The door opened and Ectoplasm, Cementoss and Midnight entered the room.
"Like Suzuki said, ultimate moves are predictable. That's why you should have more than one move."
Cementoss said—having heard Sam's question.
"Today you will be working on making your ultimate moves. You will each have your own clone to practice on."
Ectoplasm revealed—showing them his quirk which allowed him to make clones of himself.
"Let's suit up and get to the gym!"
Midnight winked and cracked her whip.
The students eagerly got up and went to pick up their costumes from the wall.
Sam, however, had different plans.
He wasn't here to play hero. Not yet.
———
"It should be around here…"
Sam was walking through the school, looking for a specific department.
BANG!
Sam quickly fell to the ground—shaking.
"What the hell?!? Shit! Am I being attacked?!"
Sam looked around frantically, searching for the source of that explosion.
Suddenly, the door in front of him opened and smoke poured out.
Cough!
Cough!
"Whew! That was a close one."
Sam wasn't thinking about anything else.
He lunged into the smoke and grabbed the person who was coming out.
"EEP!!!"
Sam went to push them to the ground, but his palm grabbed something—plush… and soft…
The smoke started clearing and he saw pink dread-locks and eyes that looked like crosshairs.
"What the…"
"Umm… could you let go please?"
The smoke cleared and revealed a soot-covered girl… and his hand was right on her chest.
He quickly removed his hand and backed up.
The girl had a slight blush on her face.
"Sorry. I thought… I thought I was being attacked. I didn't mean to… you know."
Sam bowed lightly to her.
"Oh! It's cool… sorry about that! I was testing a baby and it blew up!"
Suddenly, the blush vanished and she gave a big smile.
Sam deadpanned at this.
"Oh… I see… this wouldn't happen to be the support studio, would it?"
Sam sighed. He still felt a bit on edge from that blast.
His hands lightly shook, even after composing himself.
He hid them behind his back.
Luckily, the girl was focused on her notepad.
"It seems that didn't work too good, maybe if I…"
She started muttering and writing things down. Reminding him of someone.
'She's just like Midoriya…'
She looked at Sam and her eyes widened.
"Oh! You were still here!"
"I never left."
Sam felt his eye twitch. He was getting a bit irritated.
He just let out another sigh.
"I'm here for some… equipment."
Suddenly, the girl ran right into him.
"Whoah!"
She almost knocked him over, but he could feel her decent chest pressing against him.
'If Rumi saw this, it'd be my ass.'
He shivered at that thought.
"You're that weirdo who tore the city up, right?!? The quirkless kid?!?"
Sam winced—not liking that he was being remembered for that.
He just nodded.
She gave him a big smile.
"Awesome!! I got just the thing for you!! How about these jet boots!? They can help you fly higher than someone with a quirk!! Or what about this gauntlet?!? It can bend steel!!!"
She showed him a pair of metal boots, and a large and heavy gauntlet.
They looked okay, until she turned on the boots and they started sparking.
"Uh-oh."
BOOM!
Sam ducked and closed his ears. Once again he was shaking.
"Whew! That was close! Maybe I should-OUCH!"
She was about to go into her muttering again but she was hit on the head by a wrench.
"Dammit Hatsume! Stop blowing things up in here!!"
She chuckled awkwardly.
"Sorry, Power Loader-sensei!"
She said while rubbing the back of her head with closed eyes.
Power Loader just sighed.
He then caught Sam, crouching with his ears covered with his hands and eyes closed shut.
But what hurt his heart was seeing Sam shivering.
"Suzuki-kun?"
Power Loader went up to Sam and lightly put his hand on his shoulder.
Sam's head turned to him in a split second and saw the worried face of Power Loader.
"It's okay, kid. Deep breaths."
Sam—still shivering—heeded him and inhaled a few deep breaths before exhaling them.
After doing that, he stood back up. However, now he was all shaken up.
"Thanks…"
He looked at the girl, Hatsume, and saw that she was kind of worried too.
"Are you okay?"
She asked—genuinely worried.
Sam sighed. He was pissed at her, but she was just someone devoted to their craft. It's not her fault his mind was fucked up.
"I'm fine. I just came here because I wanted to see if you could make me something."
He took out a sketch from his pocket.
He had been contemplating what he would need, and made some sketches of what would help him in the coming fights.
Power Loader took the paper and looked through the sketches.
Hatsume snuck up behind Power Loader and looked over his shoulder at the sketches.
After taking a glimpse, Power Loader was stunned, while Hatsume was blushing.
"Wow!"
She yelled, scaring her teacher.
"Ahh! Damn it don't sneak up on me!"
He barked out.
Ignoring him, she ran back to Sam.
"That's so cool!!! Let me make it!!! Please!!"
She pled with shining eyes.
"Hold it!"
Power Loader pulled her away from him.
Sam just saw this scene with a frown of annoyance.
'God, these people are nuts… who the fuck am I to talk?!?'
Shaking himself out of that thought, he turned back to Power Loader.
"So? Can you do it?"
Power Loader looked through the sketches and sighed.
"I'd love to… but the things you want to make are made from only the highest quality material. As much as I wish I could, I'm afraid it's impossible."
"Really?"
"Really?!?"
Both Sam and Hatsume asked—or in her case yelled at—Power Loader.
"I'm afraid so. This suit… I've heard of it. However, only military grade material can be used for it to be the most effective. Otherwise, I can make a lower quality one, but it wouldn't really serve its purpose."
"I see. And the weapons?"
"The Melee weapon I can make… but the gun? Yeah, that's not possible without the proper material. Once again, military grade stuff."
Sam nodded.
"So if I could procure those materials, you could make it?"
Power Loader thought carefully.
"Hmm… I should be able to. Why? You know how to get this stuff?"
"Leave it to me."
Sam turned around and took out his phone.
It was time to ask a favor of a friend. He hated having to be in even more debt to him, but he can't help it. Not with the enemies he will have to face.
———
He was walking back to the gym, where the others were still training their 'ultimate moves.'
On the way there, he ran into Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka.
"So what are you three up to?"
"Oh, we are just going to the support department to see if we can make some costume changes."
Sam frowned—remembering the pink haired maniac.
"I see… well good luck."
He turned around and walked away from them, leaving them confused.
"Good luck? With what?"
"I don't know."
"Let's just head to the support department."
They said as they watched Sam leave.
After returning to the hero department, he arrived at the gym.
"What are you doing, Suzuki?"
Sam thought someone was watching him the moment he got close to the gym. Seems he was right.
"Aizawa."
From the shadows, Aizawa appeared. His arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowed on Sam.
"Where were you? You didn't show up in the gym. Or even the classroom."
Aizawa waited for Sam to reply.
He noticed Sam didn't follow them to the gym, so he thought he decided to skip the hero training since it was optional for him. But when he went to the classroom, he saw he wasn't there either.
Sam looked around—trying to see if anyone was nearby.
After making sure they were alone, he turned back to Aizawa.
"I was at the support department."
Aizawa raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Don't tell me…"
"Yeah. I'm going to take the license exam."
Aizawa's eyes widened. He didn't expect this.
"Why? I thought you loathed the idea of becoming a hero?"
"I do. But I don't have a choice right now."
Aizawa closed his eyes.
"Is this about Ra?"
Sam nodded.
"Yes."
Aizawa nodded, as well.
"Hmm… is this also about the Pale Hand?"
Sam nodded again.
Aizawa opened his eyes and saw him nod.
"You don't need a license. We already promised to protect you from them."
"Are you sure about that? After what happened at the summer camp?"
Aizawa winced at what he considered one of his most shameful moments.
He didn't think this was a good idea. They put Sam in the hero course only so he could keep an eye on him. The other normal classes would be too… mundane for him. He was raised on a battlefield. So being with students who at least were somewhat ready for action was deemed the best thing for him.
The part about hero courses being optional, that was only to give him a choice on the matter.
But now, he is willing to get one?
He looked him dead in the eye—scrutinizing him for any deception.
Sam didn't waver and stared right back at Aizawa.
After staring for a few moments, Aizawa sighed.
"Very well… if you are willing to fight, then I have no reason to refuse."
Sam gave a nod of appreciation before returning to the classroom.
"Suzuki."
Aizawa called out to him as he was walking away.
He turned around.
"I'm sorry… for not being able to help you at the summer camp. And I'm sorry you are being dragged into this mess."
Aizawa gave him a sad look.
Sam saw the sincerity and just closed his eyes before turning back around.
"I would be lying if I didn't partially blame you for this—since you did attack me in that alleyway, which was the catalyst for my meltdown."
Aizawa felt wounded.
"But… it was only a matter of time. I was barely stable back then. Even now, I'm barely stable. So don't worry too much. If they are coming for me, then I need to be ready to take them on."
Sam said before returning to the classroom.
Aizawa just stared at Sam's retreating figure. He truly felt sorry for this.
"Don't worry… I'll do whatever I can to help you."
Aizawa regretted this turn of events. So if Sam was going to fight them, he would do everything he could to back him up.
That… was plus ultra.