ATOMIC STRUGGLE

0「approaching izak」6

"Hey dude, where were you during the quirk aptitude test?" Someone asked Izak out of the blue the next morning. Class had yet to start, but almost everyone was already there and ready for the day. The person that had initiated the conversation with him was a spiky redhead, and the person that stood next to him was a blonde with a black blaze-bolt in his hair, which Izak thought was kind of neat.

"Yeah, we didn't see you after, and I totally didn't remember you were even in our class until I saw you again," The blonde said, leaning on his desk.

"I'm not sure what a quirk aptitude test is, but Aizawa told me to go to orientation," Izak told them simply, causing them to glance at each other in confusion.

"That doesn't seem fair," the prim and proper guy from the other day walked over with a thoughtful expression. "I wonder if there's a reason you didn't have to go through the test even while the rest of us did.. Truly bizarre," He shook his head before holding his hand out. "In any case, I never introduced myself. I'm Iida Tenya, I look forward to working with you."

"I'm Izak Morgan, nice to meet you Iida," He shook his hand, then paused. "Wait, Aizawa told me I'm supposed to use last names when addressing people.. Which is your last name? I think Japan is weird where their surnames come first or something, is that right?"

"Yes, exactly!" He nodded stiffly. "My last name would be Iida, but I don't mind if you call me Tenya! By the way," His expression turned thoughtful again. "Are you not from Japan?"

"Nope, I was born in the states," Izak explained. "I flew in two days ago to start school here."

"Whoa, that's crazy!" The blonde exclaimed. "I'm Kaminari Denki, I hope we can be friends!"

"Same here, I'm Kirishima Ejiro," The redhead introduced himself. "So you lived in the states until two days ago, huh? Did you learn Japanese there?"

"No, I'm actually speaking English right now, but thanks to my quirk, I can translate it for you and your words are translated for me," He explained, causing all of their jaws to drop.

"That's incredible! But wait," Kirishima knitted his eyebrows. "How would you get through the entrance exam with a translation quirk?"

"What entrance exam?" Izak raised an eyebrow, and all of them pursed their lips.

"So you got in through recommendations?"

"No, I would have seen him if he had," A girl with shiny black hair brought up. "Ah, sorry for butting in. I'm Yaoyorozu Momo, it's nice to meet you Izak."

"You too," He nodded to her.

"Dude, what's your deal? How are you here if you didn't apply?" Kaminari demanded, causing the maroonette to shrug.

"They just told me I was going to school here and shipped me off the next day; I'm just going with it," He shrugged.

"By they, do you mean your parents?" Yaoyorozu reiterated.

"I've never met my parents," Izak shook his head.

"Oh shoot, sorry man," Kirishima instantly grimaced.

"It's fine, I don't care," Izak waved the concern off.

"What's all the racket?" Aizawa suddenly appeared at the door, causing everyone to scramble to their seats. As soon as he was seated, Iida raised his hand. "Yes?"

"We've found a major injustice, sir!"

"How so?"

"Izak said he was not subject to either entrance exam, and he also did not participate in the quirk assessment test yesterday! Would you please explain the situation to us so we may understand?"

"What you're asking to know is classified information," Aizawa grumbled, and a sudden seriousness sunk over the classroom as several people glanced back at Izak. "All I can say is he's not allowed to use his quirk."

"Wait, but isn't his quirk a translating quirk?" Kirishima raised his hand, which immediately got a rise out of their teacher as he glared at Izak.

"...No, it's not. I thought it was weird that you were speaking perfect Japanese even though it was confirmed you had never studied any language other than English."

"Well I'm sorry for trying to fit in," Izak rolled his eyes, then switched off his quirk for a second. "Would you rather I speak English and slowly learn everything there is to know about Japanese and kanji?"

"...I'll have to talk to the principal about this. Come with me during lunch, but for now, I'll allow it," The teacher sighed. Kirishima internally winced, have I accidentally gotten Izak in trouble? "With that out of the way, let's get started."

The rest of the morning was spent on core classes, and then lunch came around. "I'm really sorry!" Kirishima bowed to the maroonette. "If I hadn't opened my big mouth, you wouldn't be in trouble right now!"

"It's all good, don't worry about it," He patted him on the head, so the redhead straightened.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," Everyone started listening intently, though they were pretending not to. "What is your quirk?"

"I can manipulate atoms," Izak stated simply right before Aizawa appeared.

"Morgan, come on, let's go."

"Coming," He jogged out of the classroom, following after the erasure hero as he made his way to the principal's office. As soon as the door closed, everyone looked at each other.

"Manipulating atoms.."

"That's insane.."

"No wonder Aizawa said stuff about Izak was classified!" Sero exclaimed. "He's even more powerful than All Might!"

"W-we don't know that for sure!" Midoriya spoke up, but everyone just deadpanned at him.

"He's not allowed to use his quirk. Not. Allowed," Kaminari enunciated each word before shaking his head and crossing his arms. "Ya know, I wouldn't be surprised if he was raised as a living weapon of war or something."

"No kidding," Kirishima agreed.

"I'm just glad he seems nice," Yaoyorozu commented. "He probably wouldn't use his power for evil, at least. He's in the hero course, right?"

"Didn't you hear him though?" Kaminari asked. "He said he was told he was going to this school literally three days ago, and it didn't sound like he had a choice. I think," He glanced around the room. "Izak is here so that Mister Aizawa can keep an eye on him and stop him from using his quirk if need be."

"That also means Izak might not even want to be a hero," Iida surmised. A deadly feeling washed over the class at that revelation as each and every one of the students were reminded that sometimes, powerful people were drawn to the path of villainy. With Izak at UA, he was starting the path of a hero, but would he stay on it?