MHA: SHADOWS IN UA

Arriving at the P.E. grounds, I couldn't help but whistle under my breath. The place was huge.

It looked more like a sports arena than a school field, having a sleek running track, a sandpit that screamed "try not to faceplant here," and a pitching circle that seemed way too serious for a simple softball throw.

"Alright," Aizawa scratched his cheek. "Let's test your quirks."

"A test...of our quirks?" Uraraka asked. "What of the entrance ceremony or guidance sessions?"

"No need to waste on that stuff if you want to be a hero."

His response earned shock from majority of the class as he basically told them that the traditions doesn't matter to him.

Aizawa continued, "The country's still playing catch-up to the idea of Quirks. Even at your old schools, you were probably restricted from using them during P.E., right? It's not rational but that ends here. The tests we're doing today will measure your potential."

He turned to the nearest student at his side. "Bakugo, how far could you throw in middle school?"

"Sixty seven metres."

"Use your Quirk and throw this softball as far as you can." He gestured to the pitching circle nearby. "Do whatever you want, just don't leave the circle."

Bakugo stepped forward, taking the softball with a confident grin. "Finally," he muttered.

Then, with a yell, he launched the ball into the air, using his explosions to boost the throw.

"Seven hundred and five meters," Aizawa announced, showing the result on a device. "It's important to know your limits. That's the first step in knowing the type of hero you would be."

I glanced at the others, the air buzzing with energy as they were all talking excitedly.

"Whoa! This is awesome."

"705 metres? Seriously?"

"So we can use our quirks for real!!"

"Man, the hero course is so cool!"

I face palmed at those words, knowing what was coming but either way, it still did feel glad that my presence didn't really affect the storyline.

"Awesome...you say?" Aizawa echoed, his flat voice becoming serious. "You're hoping to become heroes after three years here and you think it would be fun and games?"

The air around him suddenly became thicker as a wave of pressure hit us, making everyone shudder.

My body still prickled with fear, even though I was mentally prepared for it. As expected of one of the top heroes.

"The one with the lowest score across all eight events would be judged hopeless and would be expelled."

As he spoke, the excitement in the air was immediately replaced with nervousness as tension shifted in the group.

"Welcome," he adjusted his hair, letting out a mocking smile. "This is the hero course at UA high."

One was excited, others nervous, and a few were already panicking. I leaned back slightly, letting out a small breath.

My turn would come eventually. For now, I just needed to wait, and not screw up when my name was called.

———

"5.10 seconds" a robotic voice called out.

I grabbed my knees, my chest heaving slightly as I felt the sun scorching my back.

This was light work compared to AFO's lair but at the end of the day, training is still training as I tried not to use my quirk.

Majority of these guys are demons, like Ida, just bustling through with his speed or the dude with the face mask—Shoji with his crazy strength.

I glanced over at Midoriya, who was muttering, freaking out at his performance. I couldn't blame him, he had no control of his power at this stage.

I felt the urge to give him tips on how to use his power but I couldn't risk spoiling the plot, who knows what could happen if I do that.

I stood by myself, hands in pockets. I felt a few glances and stares at me, although I'm not one to be nervous at glances but it felt fucking weird.

"Look at that guy."

"He pierced his ears, is he a thug?"

"He is handsome actually, he could be a model if he wants to."

"A model? He looks like a thug. Look at his arm."

"Yoo, that tattoo looks so cool."

'I can hear you motherfuckers' I sighed inwardly.

Since the day I activated that Quirk, a mark had appeared on my forearm—two distinct stripes wrapped around it.

Of course, I knew it was something related to my quirk but to the rest of society, it looked like I had a tattoo.

Coupled with the ear piercing which was my own idea, I think I might have earned the "bad boy" persona.

And there was something strange in this world. All the students are eighteen years of age, matching my age.

The characters are not fifteen years old as in the original story, was this another factor that was affected because of my appearance?

It did feel good to know because I don't wanna feel weird spending my time with kids.

"Are you worried about him?" A voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "I'm not worried about him."

The voice belonged to a guy with a feminine face, bright indigo eyes and long blond hair that adds to his feminine traits, also making him look like a young prince.

Yugo Aoyama.

In the story, he was a traitor—the one who worked for AFO and the League of Villains.

Eventually, he got caught, and his sob story came to light—how he was born quirkless, how his desperate parents made a deal with AFO to give him a Quirk.

But now… things were different. I'm the spy in U.A., not him. Does that mean I've taken his place?

Is he no longer the traitor? Or is the storyline still going, with me just being an extra who would've been killed off if I hadn't pushed myself to survive?

When AFO said he was watching me, was it through him? Or was there someone else?

The idea gnawed at me, a small but persistent voice in the back of my mind. If my presence in this world has replaced a minor character, what else might have shifted?

I glanced at Aoyama again, watching the way he carried himself. Was he still the traitor, quietly passing information to AFO? Or had my arrival somehow rewritten his role in the story?

And if it wasn't him, then who? The thought of another spy in class 1A sent a shiver down my spine.

AFO wasn't the type to leave anything to chance. If I had truly altered the storyline by being here, knowing his character, the story could make him account for it.

Maybe there was someone new—a replacement for the role Aoyama was supposed to play. Or worse, maybe AFO had plans involving both of us.

I let out a frustrated sigh, I felt like a pawn who has no choice but to go forward at his command.

——

Aizawa stood in front of the class, his usual lazy vibe unwavering, a sharp contrast to the tense energy swirling around the class.

While the rest of the class fidgeted nervously, eyes darting between each other, I couldn't help but wonder at his indifference.

He was the kind of person who could probably sleep through a stampede without batting an eye.

The tension was so thick in the air, it could have been sliced with a knife.

"Moving along, it's time for the results." He muttered. "Your total score reflect your performance in each of the events. Explaining all this is stressful, you'll get your final rankings instead."

He clicked on a device that projected the rankings "Also, I lied about expulsion."

"Wha..." Ida weakly said.

"That was a rational deception meant to bring out the best in you." Aizawa chuckled as he walked away.

"Whaaaattt?"

Majority of the class shouted in union, only few people like me weren't fazed at all.

I glanced at the rankings, I was number 11, behind Uraraka and above Koji.

Apart from me pushing down Koji, who was initially no 11, the ranking was still maintained with Midoriya being the last and Momo being at the top.

Just like when I read the manga, I don't know how she did that.

As the class broke into groups, chatting and laughing about how nervous they were and all, I made my way out of the P.E. grounds.

———

The door clicked shut behind me as I stepped inside, the comfort of the house wrapping around me.

My parents were already in the living room, as usual—Yumi was on the couch flipping through a magazine, Ruki lounging in his armchair, looking as relaxed as ever.

They were looked brighter and better compared to the first time that I saw them. Or they were still trying their best to not be weary.

"How was your first day?" Yumi asked, her voice warm and inviting, a little too light to be casual. But still, it felt normal.

"It was fine," I answered, shrugging off the unease that had been gnawing at me all day.

I didn't want to bring it up, didn't want to let the tension slip out. I didn't want to make them all nervous again.

Ruki didn't say much, just gave a nod of acknowledgment, was he trying to act cool?

I chuckled at that, returning a nod. I knew he was trying to keep up the act, like everything was normal. They both were.

The weight of AFO's looming shadow was in the air, but we pretended it wasn't there, pretending that life was still just life.

They were scared. Not for themselves, but for me. They didn't have to say it out loud for me to know it.

I wanted to walk past them, just go to my room but I caught the look Yumi gave—a flicker of hesitation, like she was waiting for something.

I could almost hear the unspoken words in the silence that stretched between us: Are you alright? Do you need to talk?

But she couldn't ask. Neither of them did want to. The words wouldn't come out.

I nodded once, more to myself than to them, and headed for my room. The door clicked behind me, and I stood there for a moment, letting the quiet swallow me whole.

My quirk had been a blessing, and a curse. With the right focus, I could control it easily but the moment I pushed too far, the darkness inside me started to unravel.

I stood at the middle of the room, breathing deeply to steady my mind.

The familiar hum of the power stirred within me, beckoning. The cold, consuming darkness crept around my hands, taking shape as I formed a solid construct.

A blade, jagged and sharp, flickered into existence at the palm of my hand.

It felt easy, my control was solid.

I shaped the darkness, honed it, letting the blade grow longer, sharper into a sword. It was exhilarating, feeling the raw power in my hands, knowing i was making this.

But then it came, like a rustle in the back of my mind, barely audible. The whispers.

Then they grew louder, sharper, twisting around my thoughts like a tightening noose and the blade began to lose its shape.

"Pathetic."

"Not good enough."

The darkness I controlled wavered, responding to the chaos in my head.

I tried to push it back into shape, but my hand was trembling even though I gripped it tight with my other hand to stable it, the blade shuddering with every unstable breath.

The whispers weren't just whispers anymore. They were commands, pulling at the edges of my mind, drowning out everything else.

"Stop pretending you're in control."

"You're weak. Just like all the others, just a useless pawn"

The room seemed to close in, suffocating me. I could feel the weight of the voices pressing against my skull, threatening to crush me.

The darkness around me grew colder, darker, its grip tightening, slipping through my fingers.

My focus was severing, slipping through my grasp, and the power I thought I controlled was slipping away.

The whispers became louder, more insistent, until they were all I could hear.

"You can't hold it together. You can't even hold yourself together."

"Why bother? You're nothing. No one."

My chest tightened.

My breath came faster, shallow, as the voices clawed at my sanity. They were inside my head, crawling through my thoughts relentlessly.

I felt heavy, as if the weight of their words was physically pressing down on me. The power I was trying to hold together flickered, like a dying flame.

"You'll break."

"You can't safe yourself."

I staggered, the darkness around me dissipating like smoke. The blade flickered out of existence.

My head spun, my knees buckled, and I fell to the ground, clutching my skull as the whispers overwhelmed me.

"Nothing left... no one's coming to save you..."

I gasped for air, each breath ragged, but the voices just kept coming, relentless, clawing at the edges of my consciousness.

"You'll lose yourself. You already have."

"Nothing will change."

My hands were shaking, my vision blurry, but I couldn't block them out.

They were inside me now, pulling at my mind, twisting everything, and no matter how hard I fought, I could feel the darkness winning.

It was tearing me apart, piece by piece, and I was losing myself in the process.

The room felt like it was closing in on me. My heart pounded, my body aching with exhaustion, and the voices—the voices never stopped.

"Failure."

"You would drown in yourself before you reach the surface."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to escape them, but I could feel the darkness wrapping tighter around me, squeezing the last remnants of control from my hands.

Finally, the darkness faded, leaving me gasping on the floor, drenched in sweat. But the whispers didn't go away.

They lingered in the corners of my mind, always there, waiting for my next slip up.

I swallowed hard, trying to force the trembling to stop, but the cold terror in my chest wouldn't let up.

I wasn't just fighting for control of my quirk anymore.

I was fighting to hold onto myself.

———

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