After watching Best Jeanist walk away for a time, Niko turned back to keep walking to his class. In doing so, Niko bumped into a short, scrawny boy with a mop of messy green hair, causing the boy to fall, who held an expression as if someone had accepted death. Niko reached out to grab him, but was intercepted by a brown haired, chubby girl who pat the falling boy on the back, causing him to float.
Niko blinked, momentarily confused by the girl's sudden intervention, before his mind started to race with analytics of her power, potential applications and more. He was so spaced out that the other two had a whole conversation were waving their hands in front of his face. "Oh. Apologies."
His accent grabbed their attention, but the green haired boy shook it off. "I'm Midoriya Izuku." He said, extending his hand.
"Niko. No last name that I care to keep..." Niko's face was placid as he shook Izuku's hand. No, wait. Japanese culture is in play here, he shouldn't call him by his first name.
The brown haired girl spoke up, awfully cheerful. "My name is Uraraka Ochaco! Midoriya and I already met each other in the entrance exam. We're going to be classmates!"
Niko gave a polite smile. "Oh?" He said, gesturing for them to continue walking while they talk. "And which class are you two in?"
"Class 1-A!" Uraraka chirped, and Midoriya seemed awfully flustered her energy.
Niko fell quiet while he walked and gave a soft laugh. "Small world. I am in Class 1-A myself."
Midoriya and Uraraka looked at one another before looking back to Niko. "That's incredible. Are you a transfer student?"
Midoriya queried. "No. Let's say that I have... extenuating circumstances that require that I stay in Japan for the foreseeable future. The warmer climate agrees with me, though I could do without the noise."
The conversation had fallen into a comfortable silence, the three of them little more than amiable strangers by this point. Once they got to the door for Class 1-A (and some gawking from Midoriya about the size of the door.) Niko opened it and allowed the two smaller of his classmates inside, then stepped in himself.
He immediately thought that he would have preferred prison to this. A wide framed boy with glasses and blue hair was currently trying to chastise a blonde haired and red eyed boy who had his feet up on the table.
"Get your feet off the table! That is disrespectful to this institution of learning!" He fussed, his hands making chopping motions towards the blonde boy, who merely responded with a snort.
"You're kidding me, right? Did your old school put that stick up your ass, or were you born with it there?" The blonde responds, speaking rather rudely too.
Midoriya sighs besides Niko, already familiar with the blonde and his attitude. This prompts Niko to look down at him. "You know those two?"
Midoriya starts at Niko's voice, much to the Niko's amusement. "W-well. I met the blue haired guy during the entrance exam, but the blonde one is Ka- er... Bakugō Katsuki. I've known him for a long time..."
Iida seems taken aback by Bakugō's attitude. "Ahh… Let's start over. I'm Tenya Iida from the Soumei Private Academy."
Bakugō sneered. "Soumei, huh? So you must think you're better than me! I'm gonna have fun tearing you a new one!"
This statement bewildered Niko to no end, and he could not help but speak up. "When did the fellow say anything such as that? That is an entirely separate statement. Do you enjoy making assumptions based on nothing, or are you merely an imbecile?"
"Hah?" Bakugō growled. "What the hell did you just say to me, bastard?" Bakugō stood up, little pops appearing at his hands with faint sparks.
Niko did not move from where he stood near the door. He did not raise his voice either. "I asked a question," he replied evenly. "You made an accusation without evidence. I was curious as to your reasoning."
Iida's glasses caught the light as he looked between them, clearly unsure whether to intervene or salute. Midoriya looked like he wanted to sink through the floor.
Bakugō took one step forward. "You think you're smart because you talk fancy?"
"No," Niko answered. "I think before I speak. You should try it."
A sharp crackle burst from Bakugō's palm, the tiny explosions popping like firecrackers in the tense quiet. Several students recoiled at once, chairs scraping against the floor as they jump up from their seats to get away from what looks to be a fight about to beak out. Uraraka instinctively grabbed Midoriya's sleeve, and Iida stiffened so abruptly it looked as though he might physically insert himself between them.
Bakugō's grin widened as he stepped forward, heat shimmering faintly around his hand. "Say that again," he demanded, clearly eager for a reaction.
Niko did not retreat. He did not raise his voice either. His posture remained straight, balanced, as though he were standing in an empty field rather than a crowded classroom.
However, Niko's attention was caught by something else, his head suddenly snapping to the corner of the room. There, half-shadowed near the windows, lay a yellow sleeping bag. The fact that Niko had not even bothered to register it irritated him to no end.
The sleeping bag peeled open with a metallic sound, revealing a man with disheveled black hair and heavy-lidded eyes that looked as though they had seen too much and slept too little. He had long strips of fabrick half-wrapped around his neck and shoulders, his gaze sweeping the room without urgency, yet missing nothing.
The effect was immediate. The class quieted as if a switch had been flipped. Even Bakugō's sparks died down to nothing, his scowl deepening as he followed Niko's line of sight.
"…That was quick," the man drawled, voice flat and rough from disuse. "Less than five minutes in and you're already shouting at each other. At least you shut up fast, too. Mildly impressive."
The comment hung in the air, ambiguous enough that no one knew whether to feel praised or reprimanded.
The man pushed himself upright, stepping fully out of the sleeping bag with the lazy efficiency of someone conserving energy by habit. A long capture scarf rested around his shoulders, and though his posture seemed relaxed, there was a coiled readiness beneath it. His gaze paused briefly on Bakugō's hand, then shifted to Niko. It lingered there a fraction longer than it had on the others.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shōta." He groused, his tone devoid of ceremony. "If you plan on being irrational and fighting every classmate who annoys you, do me a favor and leave now."
No one moved.
Aizawa clicked his tongue, annoyed that they stuck around. "Figures. Anyways, put these on and head outside." At the push of a button on a remote, a bunch of tracksuits in all different shapes and sizes fell from a compartment in the wall with a heavy thud, scattering across the floor in a messy pile of navy and white fabric. The suddenness of it made several students jump. Aizawa did not react at all.
"P.E. uniforms," he said flatly. "You have eight minutes. Change and meet me outside on the field."
A ripple of confusion passed through the class.
"Outside?" Uraraka echoed softly.
"On the first day?" someone else muttered.
Iida straightened again, hand half-raised. "Sir, what about the entrance ceremony-"
Aizawa's eyes shifted to him without turning his head. "If you want to sit in an auditorium and listen to speeches, you're in the wrong class. Hero work starts now."
That ended the discussion.
Students hurried toward the pile, grabbing uniforms and checking sizes. The earlier tension dissolved into nervous energy, though many of them still glanced at Bakugō and Niko as if expecting sparks to fly again at any second.
Bakugō snatched a tracksuit from the pile with an irritated grunt, brushing past Niko's shoulder on purpose. "Don't think this is over," he muttered under his breath.
Niko didn't look at him, merely taking a tracksuit of suitable size and then heading to the changing room. "The barking of a Pomeranian is only just an annoyance."