"Well done my young students! We have finished just on time!" All-Might spread his arms. "You have all performed beyond my expectations. I will be forwarding your evaluations to your Homeroom Teacher. But now, I must be off. Duty calls, and so does lunch! Plus Ultra!"
Pony Tsunotori smiled as All-Might made his exit, disappearing in a burst of speed. The exercises had finished without incident, leaving everyone sweaty, tired and hungry.
But oh had it been worth it. For those fifteen minutes, she had felt like a real Hero. Every step she'd taken to reach here, she would have taken them twice over for this.
Pony yawned and stretched her arms. "Man, I could really use a shower right about now."
There was no response from beside her. Yui Kodai had spoken maybe ten words to her teammate over the entire exercise, all of them strictly related to the mission at hand.
"What do you think lunch is going to be like?"
Kodai grunted noncommittally. That seemed to be her go-to answer when addressed directly, communicating that she'd heard the speaker but declining to respond, shutting down the conversation.
Pony suppressed a sigh at the non-response, but let it go. Can't win everytime. In the meanwhile warm shower called to her.
Some time later Pony emerged from the showers, feeling clean and energized. Now all she needed was a bit food and she'd be set for the rest of the day. She walked over to her locker and beginning the arduous task of putting on the UA student uniform, carefully pulling on the white dress shirt over her horns. The changing room was bustling with activity as her classmates were preparing themselves for lunch.
However, there was one absence that Pony immediately noticed.
She poked her head into the showers, glancing around. She found the large, scaled form of Ryuuzaki Tatsuma in the far end of the communal showers. She stood under the torrent of water falling from the showerheads, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed as she soaked in the warmth.
"Are you coming? Everyone's leaving for lunch."
The massive dragon startled as if she'd been dozing off.
"Yeah." She hissed, her blood-red eyes blinking rapidly. "Yeah, I'll be along in a moment."
Pony nodded and retreated back to the changing room, returning to her locker.
Moments later, there was a sound of heavy, clawed footsteps on tiles, followed by Tatsuma emerging from the showers, her scales glistening with water that was already turning to steam.
Pony's new friend seemed a little down. Ryuuzaki Tatsuma was hard to read at best, owing to vast differences in physiology, but in the small amount of time they had spent together Pony had learned to look for her ears. They might perk in excitement or surprise, flatten in anger or droop in worry. It had been strangely adorable to see a dragon the size of an elephant look like a puppy being scolded for pooping on the floor, after the second round of battle training, and her mood did not seem to have bounced back to normal yet.
So Pony resolved to find a way to cheer her up. Because that's what friends did. After finishing dressing herself and straightened her tie she approached Tatsuma, her hands behind her back to keep them from fidgeting.
"Hey, do you wanna sit with me?" Pony said, rocking back and forth on her hooves as she looked up at Tatsuma. "We can eat lunch together!"
"You sure you want do that?" She answered in her strange, hissing voice. "When I eat, it tends to be a little… loud."
Pony eyed the jaws that could have comfortably swallowed her whole, jagged teeth the size of daggers jutting out even when they were closed. She didn't doubt it.
But if she was being honest with herself, the offer hadn't been purely for Tatsuma's benefit alone.
"I'll be fine!" She waved it off.
The cafeteria was bustling with activity. It was a large, open space meant to accommodate a third of the student population at a time, with each year group's lunchtime being staggered to avoid overcrowding. There was no separation between classes with business, support, general and heroic students intermingling freely.
They made their way towards the tables through the crowd, Tatsuma's sheer mass clearing a path for Pony, like a scaly icebreaker. It struck Pony just how large her draconic classmate was, taking up space nearly equal to a full table just by herself even with her wings fully folded and tucked against her side. She didn't exactly push her way through, but most students were wise enough to make way.
In all the stories Pony had heard of UA almost everyone had praised the food, and she could see why. She quickly loaded up her plate on salmon and rice, with plenty of cheese sauce. The meal wouldn't have looked out of place in a restaurant, and yet it was provided to them for a pittance.
They found a spare table, and Tatsuma settled down on the floor alongside it, curling her tail around her legs to take up less space.
A pair of robot helpers struggled to carry the steaming pot between them, joints grinding as they dropped it in front of Tatsuma.
"Lunch Rush sends his best regards, meatbags."
Contained within was a vast quantity of cooked meat and bone, cut in large chunks. It looked like it had been well-prepared and seasoned, though there must have been hundreds of pounds of it.
Tatsuma carefully lowered her head to snatch a piece of meat between her teeth, before throwing her neck back, jaws snapping. There was a horrendous crunch of bone as she bit down, dagger-like teeth sinking into the meat. It reminded Pony of a feeding show at a crocodile exhibit. Tatsuma twisted her head back and bit down again, and little by little what must have been dozens of pounds of meat disappeared down her gullet.
She repeated the process, faster this time. The noise was considerable as meat and bone were subjected to immense amounts of pressure between her jaws. Tatsuma paused after swallowing the second piece, red eyes scanning the cafeteria, and Pony couldn't help but have a look as well.
The clamour of the cafeteria went on unabated. They had drawn attention, certainly, but not in a bad way. And she could tell Tatsuma was glad for that, a tension bleeding out of her posture that Pony hadn't even noticed was there.
"That is super manly!"
Tatsuma turned around, the floor creaking under her weight. The student who'd just spoken was a crimson-haired boy, sharp teeth flashing a confident smile. He craned his head to look up at Tatsuma- even sitting down her head was above eye level for all but the tallest people.
"That's so cool!" The boy leaned in closer. "They put real bones in your food?"
"Yeah. I need a lot of bone in my diet."
"That's awesome! Do you ever get worried you're going to choke?"
Pony questioned whether that was really an appropriate question to ask during a meal, but Tatsuma seemed to roll with it.
"I can't really choke." Tatsuma shrugged. "It, uh, it involves a lot of boring biology, but I can breathe through my nose even if the primary airway is blocked."
"Oh. Is that so that you can breathe in through your nose while breathing fire out through your mouth?"
"Yyyes." Tatsuma said, drawing out the word, but the other student paid no heed to it.
"Dude, that's the opposite of boring biology." Flashing a brilliant smile, the boy held up his hand. "Eijirou Kirishima, from 1-A."
"Ryuuzaki Tatsuma, 1-B." She took his hand in her claw, the size difference making the shake look awkward.
"Pony Tsunotori, also 1-B."
"Damn, 1-B has a dragon? I guess we'll have to pick up slack." He grinned, shaking Pony's hand as well. "Anyway, I've got to go now, just wanted to drop by and say hi."
"That was a little bit weird." Pony said as the boy walked away, presumably to find his own classmates.
"Could've been worse. Curiosity I can deal with." Tatsuma shrugged, before adding. "And he was the first person I've met at UA who didn't immediately ask about my surname."
Pony felt a bit of red creeping up her cheeks. "I guess that would get old pretty quickly." She sighed. "When I first enrolled in a japanese school, all anybody would talk about was that I was american. My japanese was even worse back then."
"Do you miss it, the US?"
"Every day. Not that I hate it here, but sometimes it's just… hard. It was worse in the beginning, when I understood maybe half of the conversation, and even now I still miss phrases and words. It's frustrating."
<"You know, we can just have the conversation in english, if you want to."> Tatsuma replied, in surprisingly good english. There was a noticeable accent, but nowhere near as thick as most japanese she'd encountered.
"Thanks, but no. It'd be comforting, but I'll never get better at japanese without using it." Tatsuma meant well, but she had made a promise to herself, when she decided to come to Japan. No taking the easy way out.
Plus Ultra, as they say.
"Fair enough." Tatsuna replied in japanese again, nodding. "I can respect that."
"Your english is really really good though!" Pony exclaimed with a smile, feeling a little bad for shutting her down like that when she'd only wanted to help. "
"Oh, I just… use the internet a lot."
"Well, it's obviously working!"
There were a few seconds of silence, stretching on to become uncomfortable. Tatsuma was as still as a statue, triple-lidded eyes blinking slowly before she spoke again.
"Say, how have you found Japan so far? You said you'd been here for a little over a year?" It was obvious Tatsuma was just trying to come up with small talk to fill the silence, but Pony appreciated the effort nonetheless. It was clear her new friend wasn't a very sociable person.
"Yeah!" She replied enthusiastically. "I've been living with my uncle. I don't regret coming to Japan, but it hasn't always been easy."
"Taking that kind of leap into a completely different culture can't have been."
"True. My father always told me stories of what it was like here, but it's one thing to hear it and another to live it."
"Did he teach you japanese?"
"A little bit, and I took a japanese elective at school. Most of it, um, I learned through watching anime and reading manga." Pony could feel her cheeks redden, but Tatsuma didn't seem to react to her confession.
It was just… embarrassing to admit. She didn't want to be thought of as the dumb, american tourist who only knew Japan through anime.
She'd seen the upturned noses, heard the scoffs and witnessed the dismissive attitudes towards her. Not always, not everywhere, but frequently enough to make note of. She'd come here to learn of her father's home country, and even before leaving she'd done her best to educate herself. She loved Japan.
But in the beginning, she had often slipped up. She still did, if less frequently. She'd miss a social cue, or show her ignorance of a particular custom, or slip into english without noticing. It hadn't made it any easier to make friends, and so she had learned to appreciate them wherever they may be found.
Tatsuma lowered her massive head, nodding. It was impossible to gauge her expression, but Pony didn't feel like she was being judged.
"Like I said, I learned english from the internet. But I think our food is getting cold."
They returned to their respective meals, before leaving. Pony made a bit of small talk, but it seemed like Tatsuma had reached her conversational quota for the moment. As they were making their way towards 1-B's classroom, Pony's phone suddenly began vibrating. Taking it out of her pocket, she glanced at the screen.
"Sorry, I have to take this." Without waiting for a reply Pony tucked around a corner, clicking the green icon as she brought the phone to her ear. <"Hi mom!">
<"Pony! How's my sweetheart doing?!"> A bright, cheerful voice rang out from the speaker.
She took a deep breath, savouring the sound of her mother in her ears. She'd missed it so, so much.
<"Good! We just got off from lunch, so you called at a good time. I still have a little bit before the next lesson.">
Due to time zone issues, keeping in contact was hard. When Pony had free time, her family was asleep. When her family had free time, Pony was at school. Weekends were fine, but otherwise finding a good time to talk was nigh-impossible, and thus all the more treasured for it.
Sure, they texted too, but it wasn't the same as hearing each other's voice. It was also the only english Pony allowed herself, outside of slip-ups.
<"That's great! I'm going to sleep in just a bit, but we can chat for a bit.">
<"Yeah, anyway… I talked to my homeroom teacher, and he said the trip's not going to work out.">
<"Well, we always knew it was a long shot.">
<"He said UA does make some allowances for transfer students but the date's in the lead up to the sports festival and I really can't miss those lessons. The flight there and back would just take too long.">
<"I know sweetie. Your future has to come first. We'll mail you the presents, and sing the song over a video call, like we discussed.">
<"Yeah." Pony sighed.>
<"Hey, cheer up! You're doing amazing, so far from home! I still can't believe you got into UA!">
<"...Thanks, Mom.">
<"You can count on me, sweetie! Now, have you made any friends yet?">
<"Well, one. I think. Her name's Ryuuzaki Tatsuma.">
<"Tatsuma?">
<"Yeah, she's Ryukyu's sister.">
There was a beat of silence, and Pony could all but hear the eyebrow being raised at the other end. <"Ryukyu, eh?">
<"It's not like that!"> She squeaked, indignant. <"I became friends with her because she was nice! What kind of person do you think I am?">
<"The kind that has three different posters of Ryukyu in her room, owns all twelve volumes of her official manga series, has watched every last one of her televised fights, dressed as her for halloween three times in a row… want me to go on?">
Pony stomped her foot in frustration, unable to help herself. <"Mom!">
<"I know, I know, I'm just teasing. How has class been?">
They chatted for a few more minutes, until Pony had to tear herself away from the conversation in order to make it to class in time, pulling into her seat just as Present Mic arrived for their first English lesson.
It was, naturally, stupendously boring for her to sit through, being that it was her native language. To his credit Present Mic gave her a bit of breathing room, and she noticed him cutting her some slack when it came to focusing on the lecture.
But even so, Pony wasn't the type of person who could just sit still with nothing to do, and as the class ended she was all but bouncing up and down in her seat.
"I'm guessing you didn't enjoy the class that much?"
"It was horrible." Pony bemoaned to Tatsuma, turning her seat around. "Your english is near-perfect yourself, how do you not die of boredom?"
"Practice." Tatsuma replied, tilting her head. "And I appreciate the opportunity to refresh my memory. Skills degrade faster than you would think."
"Well you must have the patience of a saint. I don't know how I'm going to survive."
"You could ask for a pass?"
"Already tried." Pony sighed. She'd even foreseen this exact situation occurring, from the year she'd spent in japanese Middle School. "Vlad King said I should still be present. Helps build up class unity or something."
"Well. Even if it feels bad now, when the midterms start getting closer it'll probably be quite nice to have one class you can practically sleep through." Tatsuma noted. "And then you can trade english tutoring for help in whatever class you're struggling with."
"I guess that's fair." Pony sighed. Then she perked up again and began digging around in her school bag, before retrieving a small softcover manga book, laying it onto Tatsuma's desk. Pony could tell the exact moment her friend realized what it was when her ears suddenly perked up.
"I promised to bring it, so here it is! Volume One of Ryukyu's official manga!"
It was something of an absurd sight, a massive dragon caaarefully turning each page with gentle nudges of her claws. After a few moments Tatsuma paused, raising her head to look at the clock, with only a few more minutes left until the next class.
"I need to- can I borrow this? This is the best thing that I have ever read."
"I-"
"If you let me borrow it, just for tomorrow, I'll get Ryuko to sign it for you."
Pony felt her eyes widen in their sockets. "Ryuko as in-"
No way.
"As in Ryukyu, my big sister, yes." Tatsuma replied distractedly, seemingly ignorant of Pony's reaction. "She doesn't mind. And even if she does, I'll just make her do it anyway."
"A Pro-Hero autograph can go for hundreds of dollars! Surely you can't-"
"Sibling privilege." Tatsuma replied with a firm note of finality in her voice. "She's dragging me to a PR event on Sunday, it's the least she can do."
Pony considered her options. On one hand, it was a keepsake of hers, well-worn and treasured. She didn't want to part with it. But she also wanted her new friend to be able to appreciate it.
And the idea of having it be signed by Ryukyu herself made Pony's heart accelerate at the mere thought.
"Alright." She relented. "But only if she agrees!"
Not that Pony knew how she could possibly force Ryukyu to do anything, but then again she was an only child herself.
Tatsuma nodded distractedly and carefully clutched the book in her claws, putting it away into a pocket in her wrist holder.
The last class of the day was simply titled "Homeroom" in the schedule, and as soon as Vlad King walked into the classroom he dropped off his papers onto the desk and turned to the class.
"Our first order of business will be the selection of Class Presidents. You have twenty minutes."
All hell broke loose almost instantly, a dozen voices clamouring for attention simultaneously. People were shouting, expressing their opinions, forwarding themselves as candidates- it was pure mayhem.
Pony looked back towards the front of the room, but instead of reining in the class like he had done on the first day Vlad King had simply leaned back on his seat, seemingly content to observe. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kendo give up trying to make herself heard over the general noise, getting up from her seat and walking towards the back of the classroom.
A moment later a great noise rang out from behind Pony, a tremor running through the floor. She swivelled on her chair to see Kendo standing by Tatsuma who had stood up from her seat, her tail resting against the floor.
Pony realized she must have slammed it on the floor, to draw everyone's attention. Kendo nodded gratefully at the dragon, before turning to regard the class, all eyes now on her.
"A shouting match will get us nowhere, and it's obvious that there's only one way to fairly resolve the issue. We hold a vote, and the two with the highest totals are made president and vice-president." She looked across the room. "Does this sound alright with everyone?"
Seeing that there were no dissenters, Kendo turned towards Vlad King with a questioning look.
"That is acceptable." Pony frowned. That was more subdued than usual, at least from what she knew of their teacher. He liked to take charge.
"Right, we'll need some paper slips and-"
"Don't need them." Pony piped in. "I can just quickly add everyone into a group chat and make a poll."
"That sounds alright. Any objections?" Hearing none, Kendo turned to Vlad King. "Sir, permission to use our phones in class?"
"Granted, but make it quick."
Pony was already on her smartphone, thumbing through the messenger app to create a new chatroom. The school had mandated the sharing of phone numbers for security reasons, and she fired off invites to everyone in the class before moving onto the poll.
Within moments everything was set up, and the voting began. Pony scrolled over the list of names she'd created, considering how to cast her own vote. In truth she had scarcely had time to interact with most of her classmates, to judge how well suited for it they may have been.
Kendo was the obvious candidate. She breathed the essence of the older sister, the reasonable mediator. Even just from her handling of the class just moments ago, it was as clear as day that Kendo had the qualities of a class president.
But it was that obviousness that made Pony hesitate. In all likelihood Kendo would win anyway, and whether she did so with one additional vote wouldn't matter. She could afford to entertain other options, and she felt her thoughts turn towards her newest friend.
Tatsuma had been a little more withdrawn after the battle training, and Pony couldn't help but sympathize. The losing was hard enough, but with the expectations that come with being a recommended student…
Even if she didn't win, Pony could show her her support. It was the least she could do, after Tatsuma had been nothing but friendly and helpful towards her. She thumbed the button, and the screen blinked, a loading symbol replacing it.
It seemed like she'd been he last one to cast her vote as the image changed into that of an infographic, showing the results. Predictably at the front, with eleven votes, was Itsuka Kendo. However, second place…
"It is decided, then." Vlad King spoke out. "Kendo will be class president and Tatsuma vice-president."
Beside her own vote, two more of her classmates appeared to have done the same, bringing Tatsuma to a total of three. With Monoma and Honenuki both at two votes and Tokage and Yoarashi at one, she barely scraped into the second place.
There was a brief instant of silence of stunned silence. Then the spell broke, a wall of noise erupting from the class.
"What? How did that happen?"
"Congratulations!"
"How did I only get-"
"I knew it!"
"I, for one, welcome our new draconic overlord-"
Pony could see Tatsuma physically recoil from the cacophony, her ears twitching. The dragon glanced at Vlad King, who simply raised an eyebrow in return. Pony could see her a draw a breath in resignation, before her tail came down on the floor again.
Even though she was prepared for it this time, Pony couldn't help the instinctive flinch at the loud bang that ensued. The class quieted instantly.
"Thank you."
She glanced back at Vlad King, who nodded, and stood up.
"These two shall now be your class presidents. Their duties are to assist me in organizing the class and its activities, and keeping order. For a class of prospective heroes, this is no small responsibility, and I expect that all of you will comply and aid them in their duties wherever possible." Once more he paused, his gaze lingering over the class.
"Now, onto the next order of business. Has everyone brought back your permission slips for tomorrow's trip? If you have, return it to…"
The rest of the day passed by in short order, and soon enough Pony and Tatsuma were walking towards the school gates.
"Thanks again for letting me borrow the book."
"You're welcome!" Pony smiled. "So, how's Vice-Presidenthood taste like?"
"I don't know." Suddenly morose, she breathed out through her nose, and Pony could see the heat haze in the air. "I don't know if I really deserve it. I'm not the most social person in the class."
"You know, I'm sure Vlad King would still allow you to withdraw, if you don't want it." Pony ventured, but Tatsuma shook her head.
"...No. I'll do it." Tatsuma sighed, her massive body shuddering. "I won't like it, but I'll do it."
"Then why?"
"Why aren't we having this conversation in english, even though it would be much easier for you?"
"I told you." Pony replied, her mind returning to the conversation in the cafeteria. "I'll never get better at japanese if I- oh."
"Exactly. Bowing out would be the easy thing to do. Which is why I can't. So even if I don't feel like I fully deserve it, I will accept the responsibility and trust placed on me."