My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 13: Suit Up

Eri's first week at UA flew by, and before she knew it, it was Friday. Her classes had been easy so far, but she knew it had just started. Soon, assignments would start picking up, she would have papers to write, tests to study for, and exams to take. She was thankful for these few days of a simple introduction to the prestigious school.

Friday afternoon, the last period of the day, was Basic Hero Training with Mr. Kaminari. As she slid into her seat, Matsumoto chatting her ear off about something behind her, she noticed that the students were all a lot more chatty than normal. Eri leaned over to her right and asked Torredo, "What's everyone talking about?"

Torredo smiled brightly. "Someone overheard what we're doing in class today, so everyone is super excited!"

"Who? What are we doing?"

"Izumi said that he was going to the teacher's lounge to ask for Present Mic, and he overheard Mr. Kaminari bragging about his lesson plan for today. Apparently, we're doing a variation of Capture the Flag."

Eri frowned. "Capture the Flag... Like the entrance exam? Why would Mr. Kaminari want to redo the entrance exam?"

Torredo shook her head, her long brown pigtails shaking behind her. "No, from what Izumi said, it's going to be on a much larger scale than that."

A larger scale than the entrance exam? Eri shuddered. What did Mr. Kaminari have up his sleeve? She looked at the row to her left, the last row in the classroom, and saw Izumi in the second closest seat to the front. She recognized him as the boy she had run into the first day of school when she froze up in front of the door. His spiky black hair hid his face as he ducked his head away from the barrage of questions Sokudo was asking him. 

Something about him felt even more familiar than that, though, but she couldn't place how. It wasn't that she just recognized him from earlier that week, it was like something itched in the back of her mind as she looked at him. There was something else there.

"Hey! What'cha doing?" Matsumoto's voice piped up from behind Eri, startling her. 

"Huh? Oh, just thinking about today's class," Eri said quickly, bringing her attention back to herself. I'm sure I'll remember later, she thought to herself.

Matsumoto giggled. "Oh, yeah! I heard Izumi knows what we're doing. I'm so excited!"

The door burst open and Mr. Kaminari came sauntering in. "Good afternoon, kiddos," he said, pointing finger guns at the front row. "Get ready for some totally awesome Basic Hero Training! Today, we're going to be doing some... can anyone guess?"

"Capture the Flag!" the class chorused loudly. 

Mr. Kaminari's face fell so quickly that Eri almost felt bad for him. "Wh-h-how did you know?!"

Okabe from the first row gestured in Izumi's direction. "He heard you talking about it today, sir."

He harrumphed. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I wanted to keep this a surprise for you, as a sort of end-of-the-week treat. But, nooo. Someone had to go and hear my plans, hmm?" He sighed dramatically. "Yes. We are doing capture the flag. But, it may not be the kind of capture the flag you're used to. I will explain when we get there. For now, you're going to get suited up!"

"Suited up?"

"What's he talking about?"

Mr. Kaminari's disappointment turned into a conniving grin Eri knew well. The one where his eyebrows would furrow deviously and his lips would widen almost painfully. Her chest tightened as she waited for him to explain. 

"Before school, you submitted your hero costume designs. Well, guess who gets to try them on for today's exercise?" He clicked a button and dramatically flourished his arms in a wide gesture towards the wall where racks of costumes were starting to emerge from hidden compartments.