When the blast doors at Ground Beta finally grind open, the rest of the class marches out in a parade of shimmering capes and high-density armor. Then comes Haruto, and the "soundtrack" in his head practically skips a beat.
An oversized, slightly faded crimson red hoodie.
A heavy-duty leather tool belt—the kind plumbers wear—stuffed with rolls of duct tape, a half-eaten protein bar, and a pair of non-lethal-family-friendly combat knives that look way too professional for the rest of the outfit.
Two dulled, heavy-duty practice swords strapped to his back in a 'X' formation. A piece of masking tape on the scabbards has "G-rated: SAFE FOR CHILDREN" scrawled on it, They won't cut, but with Haruto's speed and strength, they'll crack ribs like a baseball bat.
A black ballistic mask covered the lower half of his face, paired with construction-grade goggles. It was a salvaged set from his "Vigilante" days—a low-budget Robin Hood kit.
Haruto's costume wasn't a high-tech tactical suit. It isn't a masterpiece of the Support Department. It is the result of Haruto being given a deadline, and deciding that a nap was a much better use of his "plot-relevant" downtime.
As for the risk of his vigilante past being exposed?
Haruto didn't even flinch. He was well aware that with a quirk like "High Spec", Principal Nezu likely already had a digitized dossier of Haruto's entire history, from his middle-school transcripts to every alleyway scuffle he'd ever finished.
But Haruto knew how the chimera operated. Nezu wasn't a man of impulsive bans or redundant moralizing.
To the Principal, Haruto wasn't a criminal to be purged—he was a fascinating variable in a school full of powerhouses.
Nezu wouldn't move against him yet. He would sit back, sipping his tea, and watch the board to see exactly how Haruto intended to tip the scales.
All Might plunged his hands into the ballot boxes with enthusiasm.
"The first match! Team A as the Heroes! Team B as the Villains! Let us see the destiny of our young stars!"
He pulled out two lots. Team A: Haruto Akagi and Toru Hagakure. vs. Team B: Fumikage Tokoyami and Mezo Shoji.
Haruto stared at the screen, his gloved hand coming up to adjust his goggles. A small, disappointed sigh escaped his ballistic mask.
"System Status: Filler Episode," Haruto muttered. "I'm paired with a set of floating gloves against a guy who talks to his own shadow and a human Swiss Army knife. Where's the stakes? Where's the drama?"
He looked over at Bakugo, who was currently vibrating with enough explosive "Main Rival" energy to level a city block.
"Seriously?" Haruto narrated under his breath. "I've got the 'Grit and Gears' build, and I'm not even matched against 'Fireworks-Kid' over there? This isn't how a proper Shounen manga is supposed to go. Where's the fated encounter? This is a C-tier side-quest at best."
"Haruto! We're together!" Toru's invisible form bounced next to him, her gloves waving frantically. "A stealth expert and... well, whatever you are! We're going to be totally undetectable!"
Haruto glanced at the "G-rated" swords on his back and then back at the empty space where Toru's face should be.
'Great,' he thought. 'A Co-op mission with a teammate who's literally missing her character model. Fine. If the writers want a Tactical Stealth segment instead of a boss fight, I'll give them one. But if Tokoyami starts a five minute monologue about the abyss, I'm skipping the dialogue.'
All Might pointed toward the massive concrete building. "Villain Team, head inside and secure the weapon! Hero Team, you have five minutes to plan your entry! Start!"
*****
"Alright, Team Stealth," Haruto muttered, the sharp skreeeee of industrial-strength duct tape echoing . "Toru, you're the diversion. I'm the system crash."
Toru's gloves bobbed in an excited nod.
"I'm ready! But what's with the tape? Are we... repairing the building?"
"Noise pollution," Haruto said, his goggles reflecting a faint flicker as he scanned the concrete structure. "Shoji is a human radar. With those duplicated ears, he'll hear your heartbeat from three floors away. We aren't going to sneak past him; we're going to drown him in white noise."
The timer hit zero. Haruto didn't rush the front door with a hero's shout. He moved with silence, his reinforced boots dampening the sound of his footsteps until he was a ghost in a crimson hoodie.
Instead of a direct assault, he began a methodical sabotage. He slipped through the lower corridors, placing small, vibrating "Screwdriver" nodes on the load-bearing pillars.
Each one began to hum at a frequency specifically tuned to interfere with Shoji's heightened auditory sensors.
"Shoji's hearing is a massive advantage, but it's also a vulnerability," Haruto whispered to his invisible teammate. "If we overload the local space with mechanical hums, he won't be able to distinguish your footsteps from a faulty HVAC unit."
Upstairs, Shoji's multiple ears twitched violently, his head tilting in confusion.
"Tokoyami... something is wrong. The building... it's singing. I can't track them!"
"The abyss is restless today," Tokoyami rasped, Dark Shadow swirling around him like a protective shroud.
***
Haruto watched the mental map of the building he'd memorized. "While they're busy trying to filter out the static..."
He reached into his plumber's belt.
"We go for the objective. Toru, ditch the gloves. I need you completely invisible. When I create a breach in the hallway, you slip inside and touch the weapon. I'll keep the Shadow-Puppet occupied."
Haruto pulled a specialized roll of duct tape from his belt—one he'd rigged with a series of high-intensity LEDs. "Toru, close your eyes."
He didn't wait for an answer. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he skipped the roll across the concrete floor.
It skittered right into the center of the room where Tokoyami stood, shrouded in the swirling, sentient darkness of his Quirk.
"The darkness is an absolute defense—" Tokoyami began, his voice echoing with its usual brooding gravitas.
"Skip" Haruto whispered.
The roll ignited. blinding white light pulsed through the room, turning the dim warehouse into a frantic disco.
Dark Shadow let out a garbled, high-pitched shriek as it shriveled instantly, retreating into Tokoyami's cloak like a scolded pet.
The sudden flare left Tokoyami and Shoji clutching their eyes.
"Now, Toru! Capture the point!"
While the Villains were busy rebooting their retinas, Haruto moved. He didn't even draw his G-rated blades.
He closed the distance instantly.
Tokoyami was still reeling, his hands clawing at the air where his retracted shadow had been.
Haruto didn't hesitate. He stepped into the crow-headed boy's personal space, planting a palm firmly against his chest and using a quick, redirected surge of momentum to sweep his leg. With a sharp exhale, Tokoyami hit the concrete.
Shoji, sensing the displacement in the air with his dupli-arms, swung blindly.
Haruto ducked beneath the massive limb with the fluid grace.
He caught Shoji's wrist, pivoted his hips to negate the weight advantage, and delivered a precise, open-palm strike to the giant's solar plexus. hitting the "Off" switch on his body.
Shoji wheezed, his knees buckling as he slumped beside his partner.
By the time the spots cleared from Tokoyami's eyes, the "Hero" team had already won.
Toru's invisible hand was resting firmly on the wanna-be nuclear weapon, and Haruto was leaning against a nearby pillar, casually peeling the wrapper off his half-eaten protein bar.
"GG," Haruto said, while removing his mask. "Next time, try investing in some blackout curtains."
In the monitor room, the rest of the class watched in stunned silence. He'd just neutralized one of the strongest combat Quirks in the room with a roll of tape and some flashy light.
*********<>*********
In the dimly lit monitor room, the silence was thick enough to choke on.
On the screen, Haruto was casually tossing the wrapper of his protein bar into a nearby trash bin.
Aizawa leaned against the back wall.
He didn't look impressed; he looked tired. He felt the familiar prickle of a headache starting to bloom —the kind only a "problem child" could induce.
"He didn't just win," Aizawa rasped, his voice cutting through the quiet. "He exploited every sensory vulnerability in that room."
"It was a masterclass in efficiency, wasn't it?"
Aizawa didn't turn around. He knew the voice.
Principal Nezu was perched on a high stool in the corner, holding a cup of tea in his paws.
"You've seen his file, Nezu," Aizawa said
"The police reports from the Shizuoka district. an unknown vigilante dismantling street gangs for years, and they have got nothing on him. No DNA, no fingerprints, no consistent height or weight profile—not even a confirmed Quirk. It's like he is a ghost"
Aizawa paused, his eyes narrowing as he watched Haruto casually lean against a pillar on the monitor.
"Look at the way he moves. The efficiency. You're telling me it's a coincidence that this 'ghost' disappears and Akagi suddenly shows up at UA"
Nezu let out a soft, high-pitched chuckle that didn't reach his eyes. "Shouta, you of all people should appreciate a rational application of talent. The boy isn't a criminal in the traditional sense. He looked at the world, saw the gaps in the 'Hero' infrastructure, and decided to fill them himself."
Nezu's gaze sharpened, the "High Spec" quirk behind his eyes whirring at a million cycles per second.
"I want to see what happens when someone who doesn't believe in the rules is forced to protect them."