UA Civil War

Chapter 3

Sparing another glance at the clock he notices that he doesn’t have enough time for a quick nap. He gets up from his desk, cracking his back that sounds like a glow stick. Satisfied with his progress he closes his notebook and puts away his pencil.

His feet slightly sting, numb from sitting criss-crossed all night. Walking alone towards class, he is unbothered by the fact that he is late. He is humming a song in his head as he looks around avoiding the rays of the scorching sun. A little pebble is keeping him company by being kicked around. 'You're  just a pebble in my path.'...

()

The hallways are quiet, the hectic sound of the lessons occurring being confined by the school's sound insulation. The boy feels at peace. He takes in subtle deep breathes facing away from the cameras that are being watched by the peculiar principal. His footsteps are emitting a faint 'tap' only heard by his ears as a lifetime of hiding perfected his technique. A high pitched voice emanating from the speakers suddenly interrupts the stillness.

"Attention all students and teachers, please head to the auditorium! I repeat all students and teachers please head to the auditorium!"

Class 1-A's door openes first. A blue haired student can be seen bossing around the others, trying to maintain order. He spots his friend sitting a few steps away.

"Deku-kun? Where were you?" A bubly girl with permanent blush asks.

"A-ah uh my alarm didn't work so I w-woke up l-late!"

"Make sure it doesn't happen again." a homeless looking man says while exiting a bright yellow sleeping bag.

"Yes sensei!"

A few other doors start opening causing a plethora of students to pour out. In as much of an orderly fashion as the teachers (minus the sleepy one) could command, the kids advance towards the auditorium, an innocent look of curiosity on their face.

The room is filled with excited spirits. The teachers are aligned on the podium waiting for the principal. After a few moments of everyone talking amongst themselves a small white rodent shows up on the stage, his confident steps echoing around the now quite room. He is wearing a tailored suit and his most noticeable feature is a scar that runs across his right eye.

"Excuse me for the short notice on which I have called you here. For reasons which I will not disclose I decided to bring back a game!"

Confused looks can be seen being exchanged in the crowd. A few are excited might I say, the teachers are most definitely not. They hope that the email they have received has nothing to do with this, that maybe the rat changed his mind.

"Ideed a game! It's called UA Civil War. In short we will form two teams, heroes and villains. The hero course students will be the only ones able to make up the teams the other courses will be discussed in a minute. First we should draw the leaders for each team respectively." The chimera doesn't waste a second in pulling out a glass sphere that contains 40, to be precise, pieces of paper, each bearing a different name. The teachers look on the verge of a panick attack perhaps from painful memories or an evocation of tales that upperclassmen have passed down to them about this wretched game.

"We will draw for the hero team leader first. Aand the hero team leader will be... Bakugo Katsuki!"

A lot of students uproar at the principal's pick, even non-hero course students.

"Now, now, please calm down. We will be drawing for the villain team leader next."

No one wants to lead the villains, why would they? It would go against all morals, it would portray them in a different light. One individual in particular cares more than he should. The principal's weird behavior doesn't go unnoticed by this person. He hopes the game isn't rigged, and for once hopes for something other than time to rest, he hopes for that 1 out of 38 chance of him being picked not happening, and that, only if the pricipal didn't mess with the choosing system, which at this point seems to be wishful thinking.

The loud announcement almost goes unnoticed by the individual's ears.

"Izuku Midoriya!" the chimera cries.

Looks of pity are directed at the school's cinnamon roll, from his classmates and even teachers, but it doesn't overpower his own emotionless sorrow. 'Has the rat figured it out?' is all he can think. 'Surely it wasn't a coincidence.'.

"Well before we go into detail about the other course's importance we should build the teams. Unlike the leaders the rest of you can choose which side to be on. So hurry up and make the decision. You can't change the team you're in after this!"

Everyone scurries to Bakugo's side, leaving Midoriya with a smile on his face that seems frozen, but the others don't seem to notice.

"Okay the teams have been forme-". Before the chimera can continue a voice can be heard from the hero's side.

"But it's 1 vs 39, it wouldn't be logical to continue with such disproportionate teams." A young girl with a black ponytail says.

"Hmm.. yes you are right. In that case-"

"No." a second voice interrupts the principal a second time. "The teams can remain how they are. I have nothing against it." Everyone is surprised by Midoriya's statement.

"Midoriya, surely you must know that this way-"

"Don't worry Midnight sensei!" he says in a cheerful tone.

Nezu doesn't leave any time for pondering as he continues.

"Now that the teams are set, I want to explain the other course's roll in this exercise. You will act as civilians! Develop businesses, help create a society, it will be of great worth to your knowledge. You are not forced to participate but if you do you will get extra credit."

The students were ecstatic, after all they were finally being included into something. They could also get extra credit, to them it seemed like fun.

"Now that we have disclosed the general information I had to share, these two rule books are to be handed to the leaders. Please read them carefully. Tommorow at 6:00 pm I will be waiting for you in my office if you have any questions." Nezu steps down from the podium and walks over to Bakugo handing him a light book. He does the same for Midoriya.

The green haired teen runs his hand along the cover. Thin cardboard... it makes it easy for his fingers to slide around. He opens it, inside written in font 11.5 are 86 pages. He doesn't start reading them right away. He instead moves his eyes to the spine, he can't wait to crack it, such a satisfying sound.

"After reading them please share the information with your teammates. The next week will be reserved for preparations so there will be no classes. Speaking of preparation, support course students that are willing to help building the rest of the... arena... will be awarded extra credit! If you have any questions please state them now."

There might have been some confused people but no one dared to potentially embarass themselves in front of the principal.

"In that case I wish everyone good luck. If you wish to open up a business for the upcoming exercise please come visit me in two days with a plan. I will be available from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm."

And with that the chimera walks offstage. The teachers are quick to implement order among the bewildered students, even when they are just as disoriented.

For Midoriya the walk back is lonely. The game has unofficially started. He is the enemy therefore must be avoided. People shoot him weird glances, probably because of his impulse decision of speaking up against Nezu, when the chimera wanted to rearrange the teams.

Entering his own personal abyss, he locks the door, contemplating whether he should go to the bathroom or not. It's been a long day and he's tired. He just wants to rest, he doesn't want to participate in any games.

()

Fresh bandages have always felt nice. The slight coldness tingling happily on his skin even if he can not fully feel it. Picking up a pencil he opens the manual, an enjoyable 'crack' escaping the book's spine. He reads the title of the first page: 'HEROES' RULES'. Why does this seem fun? Why does he want to try to actually play?