The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 1: Disclosure

"Alright, alright settle down everyone," instructed Mr. Aizawa. However, his words had little effect on the class of excited third years. The group of young heroes had been through a lot together and now as they sat in their crowded classroom they were far too busy having conversations with their friends to get settled down for their first day as third-year students. Everyone except for Iida of course who was patiently waiting at his desk, although no one was really surprised about that. Iida had always been known to take school extremely seriously

"Everyone be quiet!" shouted Mr. Aizawa at the distracted teens. His words seemed to finally scare them into submission as everyone took their seats. The desks were organized in the classroom to keep the students ordered in 4 rows of 5. As every seat was taken one by one in the back corner one seat stayed empty. Mr. Aizawa sighed.

"Alright, we're going to have to work on this guys," said Mr. Aizawa "I know you guys have been on vacation for a while but now it's time for you to get used to school rules again. So when I tell you to get to your seats you do it the first time. Am I clear?"

"Yes Mr. Aizawa," responded the entire class in unison. Mr. Aizawa nodded at the reply before continuing.

"Firstly congratulations on becoming class 3A everyone. Now since this is your third and final year here I expect you all to behave exceptionally well. You guys are the role models to all the new young heroes entering the school and I expect you to set a good example for them. We have a lot to do this year, but first I need to make an announcement starting tomorrow you guys are going to be joined by a new classmate."

Iida's hand immediately shot up into the air in an almost mechanical sort of way. Mr. Aizawa sighed at the action and gestured for Iida to speak his mind. "Sir, who is this new student and why are they going to be joining us now?"

Mr. Aizawa took a moment to ponder the question. "All I know about them is that he is a boy that shows some surprising potential for his situation. As for why they are joining us now, as you may be aware you guys have been a class of 19 rather than 20 because no one in the entrance exams has scored high enough for us to admit them as surprising as it may sound. That's why we have an opening. The boy that will be joining us took a specialized entrance exam for third-year admittance and passed so he was admitted. Now, no more questions we're already behind on today's lesson."

The rest of the day went by as any first day of school would go except for the cloud of anticipation that hung above class 3A. Despite their varying degrees at trying to concentrate all of them were wondering who might be joining them tomorrow. 'What kind of quirk does he have? How strong is he? What will he be like?' The suspense was killing them, and the brown-haired girl Ochako Uraraka was no exception.

"So Iida." asked the friendly girl while putting supplies in her locker. "What do you think about this whole "new student" thing?" Iida scratched his chin for a moment before giving his reply.

"I'm certainly curious to meet them." he began. "I have very little doubt that they must be a capable individual since they passed a third-year application exam. As for my thoughts on what I think they might be like... Well, I would rather not cast any judgment or expectations on someone I have yet to meet."

The young girl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, your probably right," she mumbled sheepishly. "Well we should probably get to our next class, so I guess I'll catch you later okay?"

"Very well Uraraka. We can converse at another time."

The rest of the day went by painfully slowly for the bubbly girl. She was super excited to meet someone new at school but the wait was killing her. Despite her impatience, she managed to sit still through the rest of her classes.

That night at Heights Alliance dormitories everyone was getting ready to sleep after a hard first day back. Everyone said goodnight to each other before retiring to their separate rooms. As Ochaco climbed into the bed of her plainly decorated dorm room the final thought she had before falling asleep was 'I hope he's nice.'