The atmosphere had shifted once again. Everyone sat a little straighter now as Iida stood at the front with the folded ballots, assisted by Yaoyorozu and Jirou in tallying the votes. Aizawa remained in his cocoon, giving no signs of life, clearly trusting—or ignoring—the process.
After a few minutes, Iida cleared his throat dramatically.
"The votes have been counted!"
The room fell into an expectant hush.
"With the majority vote… our class president will be… Momo Yaoyorozu!"
Applause broke out - some enthusiastic, some more polite. Momo blinked, genuinely surprised but quickly composed herself and stood with a graceful nod.
"Thank you, everyone. I'll do my best to lead us responsibly."
"And," Iida continued, "our vice president… is Tenya Iida."
This time the clapping was a bit louder, with Mina whistling and Kaminari throwing him a thumbs-up.
"Well deserved!" Kirishima said. "You kinda ran this whole thing anyway!"
Iida bowed deeply. "It is my honor to serve this class with dedication and integrity!"
Souta leaned his head on one hand and muttered to Mina, "He was born for this role."
"Right?" she whispered back, grinning.
As the bell rang for lunch, the students began to shuffle out of the classroom. Souta was among the last to stand, slinging his bag over his shoulder, following the rhythm of an almost normal school day.
---
The cafeteria buzzed with life, alive with chatter and the clatter of trays. Students from other first-year classes were scattered across the wide space, animated with the kind of chaos only a school like U.A. could manage.
Kirishima waved over from a table already half-claimed by familiar faces - Kaminari, Jirou, Mina, and Sero.
"Yo! Twins! Over here!"
Souta exchanged a brief glance with his brother, who - as expected - followed him to the table after a quiet nod.
Souta just slipped into the seat beside Mina while the others made space for the two of them.
"We were just talking about the training battles," Kaminari said, halfway through his curry bread. "Yours was next-level! Like, final arc anime stuff."
"Seriously," Sero chimed in. "You and your brother? Peak drama."
Mina leaned closer to Souta, eyes playful. "What was that move at the end? You timed it like you knew exactly when he'd attack."
"I did," Souta said with a casual shrug. "He can be a bit predictable… if you've grown up with him and know his weaknesses."
The table chuckled.
"You should've seen his face," Kirishima added. "I thought Shoto didn't have expressions, but man - he looked actually annoyed."
Souta smirked lightly and dug into his rice.
The peace didn't last for long though.
Suddenly - BEEP-BEEP-BEEP - a shrill alarm blared overhead, followed by the flashing of red emergency lights. The cafeteria stilled.
"Security breach. Security breach. All students remain in your current locations. Teachers will respond shortly. This is not a drill."
Kaminari stood halfway. "Wait, what?"
Uraraka's eyes widened as she stood from a nearby table. "What do they mean 'breach'? Is someone hurt?"
Bakugo shoved his tray aside. "Tch - if this is another stupid exercise—"
But it wasn't.
Far outside, a portion of the outer wall near the front gate had been destroyed, leaving only rubble behind.
Reporters.
Dozens of them - shoving, shouting, flashing cameras - all pouring onto campus through the sudden gap.
"IS IT TRUE ALL MIGHT IS TEACHING HERE?!"
"WHICH STUDENTS SHOW PROMISE?!"
"IS U.A. HIDING SOMETHING?!"
They just suddenly all rushed in through the gap in the wall.
Cementoss appeared only a few moments later, emerging from a nearby building with a gesture that summoned a massive new wall of concrete that blocked off the breach. His work was clean, fast - but not invisible. From the cafeteria windows, the mass of journalists could still be seen beyond the new wall, shouting and scrambling for photos.
Several teachers appeared next, pushing back students and calming the chaos. Present Mic, loud as ever, boomed over the crowd:
"Yo! No worries, young heroes! Just a tiny hiccup in our perimeter system - got a little too popular with the press, y'know?"
His tone was light, but Souta noticed how tense his eyes were.
He wasn't fooling anyone who looked closely.
"Since when do reporters destroy walls?" Shoto muttered from his corner of the table, quiet and cold.
Souta stood with his tray nearly untouched, his voice low. "They surely didn't do it alone."
---
Elsewhere – U.A. Archive Wing, Restricted Access
While the school scrambled above, down in the hidden parts of the campus, something far more dangerous was already unfolding.
The lights flickered in the dim archive room; long halls lined with data terminals and secure servers.
Tomura Shigaraki knelt beside one.
His gloved fingers twitched as he typed, eyes flicking across the screen that displayed the layout and training records of U.A.'s practical facilities.
Beside him, Kurogiri held open a small warp gate that gave the villain an instant route in… and out.
"U.S.J…" Shigaraki murmured, reading. "Simulated disasters. A perfect little sandbox."
He inserted a drive, copying the files with practiced speed.
"They really think they can teach kids how to survive reality."
His teeth grit. "Let's test that."
He yanked the drive free.
---
After the chaos was resolved, the lessons resumed without any delay.
Whenever a student asked about what had happened, the teachers would just say that there was some kind of malfunction in the system, which then caused the reporters to gain access to the school grounds.
But Souta knew better, his memories also contained this occasion. It was what led to the confrontation at the U.S.J. facility, where the only plausible explanation for no one of the students experiencing any real injury or even dying, was the plot.
This time though, Souta couldn't just blindly follow what should have happened but had to be extra careful. If he could, he would like it if no one would have to experience anything dramatic in the upcoming fight, but he was by no means strong enough right now to guarantee anything.
Much less, if he didn't want All For One to suddenly come knocking on his door, or to come home and find his siblings dead.
Right now, he could and should only focus on getting his hands on the super regeneration quirk of the Nomu, who would appear. If he did that, then he would have a lot more freedom to act.
Just this one addition could amplify his strength immensely, as it would stop his body from overheating and could heal him from any harm caused.
Technically, the quirk he copied from his brother Toya should also have an ice part, but he had no clue on how to gain access to it, therefore the regeneration was the more viable option for now.