In one timeline, I headed towards the exit of the dojo and said goodbye to my sensei, a retired pro-hero who was teaching mixed martial arts.
In another timeline, I finished up a research paper and submitted it to the college I was attending in America. A college I was able to gain admission to despite my age due to my "gifted" nature.
In yet another timeline, I stoked the fire in my log cabin, deep within the Canadian wilderness. I had just gotten back from a successful hunt, further improving my skills with a bow and arrow.
And of course, in my favorite timeline, I opened an envelope sent from UA High School and addressed to me.
A circular metallic object fell out before a projection of All Might popped up.
"I am here as a projection!" The recording of the Symbol of Peace boomed out, leaving me to shake my head in exasperation.
'It still never ceases to amaze me how expressive the people of this world are.'
"You, Sophia Sage, have passed the written exam with flying colors! And on the practical exam, as you intelligently pointed out..." All Might said before a recording of my conversation with Izuku played out, along with clips of me rescuing other students. "There was more to this exam than simply fighting villains! Being a hero is about more than just combat, it's about giving your all to save others! How could we only grade students on combat potential, when it takes so much more to make a true hero? With that being said, you scored 0 villain points, but scored 80 rescue points! Which means you ranked first in this year's batch of applicants! Congratulations, and welcome Sophia, this is YOUR Hero Academia!"
In another timeline, the one where I was glued to a computer 24/7, also known as my 'guy in the chair' timeline, I blew out the candle of a cupcake I ordered in a little celebration of my admittance into UA.
***
Momo Yaoyorozu arrived at class 30 minutes before it was scheduled to start. It may seem a bit excessive, but it wouldn't do to be late to class on the first day, so she may have decided to make certain there was no way such a thing would happen.
After navigating her way through the halls of UA Highschool Momo came across the massive door to classroom 1-A, and after taking a deep breath, promptly entered.
Despite what she thought, she was not the first to arrive. Sat at the back of the classroom was a girl with light blue hair with a butterfly hairpin, currently inspecting her nails, looking lost in her own thoughts.
"Good morning!" Momo said, walking up towards the girl and bowing in greeting. "My name is Momo Yaoyorozu!"
"Sophia Sage." The girl greeted back. "You sit two seats to my left by the way, in the corner."
Momo smiled at the girl's words, then looked toward the front of the classroom and spotted the seating chart. Once she confirmed the girl's words, she moved over to her assigned seat and then turned to regard Sophia.
"Why did you get here so early?" Momo asked, trying to spark up a conversation. They had 30 minutes until class started, so she wanted to take this time to get to know her classmates better. After all, they all made it into UA, the most prestigious hero school in Japan, surely they're all wonderful!
"My gut told me it would be more interesting that way," Sophia replied after yawning, "And I always follow my gut."
"Oh..." Momo said, not really sure how to respond to that. She thought the girl would answer something like getting here early was only proper, or maybe she wanted to get here earlier to better learn the school's layout. Not something like 'my gut told me to'.
Before she could attempt to ask another question to break the silence, the door opened again, and in walked Todoroki, the other student who got through on recommendation like her. He only briefly glanced at them, then the seating chart, before silently walking over to his seat... right in between them...
'This is awkward.' She thought, before sighing and simply minding her own business. She wanted to socialize, but it seemed the two people she sat near didn't want to right now...
***
Yawning once again, I put my head down on my desk and closed my eyes in one timeline, the one I designated as my "main" UA timeline, while in another I was still on high alert. It wouldn't be good to be caught off guard, so I was always doing something like this, even if it may seem like a bit much. In a few "Throwaway" timelines I was even scoping out the whole school, memorizing the layout of the building as much as I could before getting stopped by a staff member, then just closing the timeline.
Students trickled in as time moved on, most starting up hushed conversations, many glancing my way once they checked the seating chart, likely identifying me as this year's top scorer.
Bringing that much attention to myself might seem stupid, but as they say, go big or go home. Or something like that. If shit really hit the fan I'd just close every UA timeline and live out my life doing other things. It would suck sure, but it was better than being dead or turned into a Nomu or something.
Once Iida entered the classroom, I knew my naptime was over, so I lifted my head. As much as the guy was annoying, I didn't want to start the first day of school arguing with him.
Not long after he entered, a much louder person arrived, kicking open the classroom door with as much grace as a bull in a china shop, and immediately demanded, "Which one of you extras is Sophia Sage?!"
Quite a few of my classmates glanced over at me, not even giving me a chance to speak for myself, not that I intended to, leaving Bakugo to stomp angrily toward me.
***
Momo watched as the very loud and spiky-haired boy stomped up towards that girl Sophia, and rudely pointed his finger at her. "Are you Sophia?! Eughhh?!" He practically screamed, eyes wild and looking so angry he might as well have turned red.
Sophia though, didn't seem intimidated. She calmly brought her arm up and propped it on her desk, before resting her head on her hand, yawning and lazily glancing at the very angry-looking boy in her face, before closing her eyes, and ignoring him.
"You damn extra?! Stop ignoring me and answer the question!" He shouted once again before that boy Iida approached him and began admonishing him for his actions.
"Please calm yourself. This conduct is unbecoming of a UA student!" Tenya Iida said, arm chopping down in a robotic manner.
While the two boys were arguing, Momo noticed the last student entering the classroom, a short boy with green hair. He seemed to recognize a few people but quickly scrambled to find his seat.
Not long after, a sleeping bag inched its way into the classroom then unzipped to reveal what could only be their teacher.
"Okay, it took eight seconds before you were quiet. Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough."
'He looks really tired.' Momo thought, noticing the man's bloodshot eyes.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you."
'Homeroom teacher?' Momo thought, hearing the gasps of her classmates. 'I've never heard of someone like him before.'
"It's kind of sudden, but put these on and go out onto the field." The sleepy-looking teacher said, reaching into his sleeping bag and pulling out a tracksuit.
***
"A quirk assessment test?!" Most of the students exclaimed in alarm. It was only most and not all as Midoriya spotted that girl Sophia still looking as bored as and tired, almost like their new teacher. It was crazy to think that she was right after all, about the entrance exam. There were other points to earn besides taking down villains! Not only that, but she said she'd see him in the hero course, at the time he thought she was only trying to motivate him, but did she really accurately predict he would make it?
"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?" Uraraka, the girl who caught his fall, not once but twice asked. It was nice to see she passed and they now were in the same class!
"If you're going to be a hero then you don't have time for such leisurely events." Mr. Aizawa replied. "U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes."
***
In my main timeline, I tuned out what our homeroom teacher was saying, while in another I paid rapt attention. I could still remember most of the plot of My Hero, despite it having been 14 years since being reborn here, plus all the extra time I spent living in alternate timelines. If I really added it all up, I had no idea how old I was, easily in the hundreds. But even then, my memory was quite good.
I had an image I wanted to portray. That being the lazy girl who looked moments away from going to bed due to sheer boredom. An odd image, but every great hero has to have a gimmick, especially in an anime world like this was.
When it was my time to complete the exercises, I split the timeline a few dozen times, and did them to the best of my ability, then simply kept the best one. My quirk wasn't really all that useful for physical tests like this, but I could still get a decent score, especially considering I had plenty of experience with physical fitness across many timelines.
Seeing Midoriya walk up to the plate to throw the ball though, and our teacher erase his quirk, I decided it was my time to shine.
"Hey, Denki. Follow me." I said, walking past the kid with yellow hair.
"Wait wut? Who me?" He asked, looking around before noticing me staring at him with a no-shit look on my face.
"Yes, you. We've gotta go help our classmate."
***
Midoriya was worried, to say the least. If he scored last in these tests, he'd be expelled, having only attended U.A. for a single day! All Might would be so disappointed, and he'd probably never get to become a hero!
But he had to try. Most of the students had at least one exercise they excelled at, so he had to have one too. The ball toss. He would throw the ball with all his might. Sure, his arm would be toast, but he'd still have his legs to complete the rest of the exercises!
Only, instead of his quirk launching the ball with the power of All Might, his teacher erased his quirk!
"From what I can tell you can't control your quirk. Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?"
Before Izuku could reply to his teacher's harsh words, a voice called out to them, followed by the appearance of two other students walking towards them.
"Excuse me Mr. Aizawa, but may Denki and I have a conversation with Midoriya? I believe I may have an idea of how Midoriya can use his quirk without injuring himself." Sophia Sage said, lazily looking over at Izuku and yawning.
Their homeroom teacher narrowed his eyes, but after a moment replied. "Very well. But make it quick."
Following his words, Sophia walked up to Midoriya, with a very confused-looking Denki in tow.
"Ummm, hi?" Izuku said, unsure of what to say in the face of the school's number one entrance exam scorer.
"Hello." The blue-haired girl replied. "You don't really know how to control you're quirk do you?" She asked, leaving Izuku to nod hesitantly, embarrassed.
"During the entrance exam when you punched that robot, you had a lot of power, but it looked like your body couldn't handle it. Denki here has got something similar." She said, pointing to the yellow-haired boy standing behind her.
"I do?" The boy said, pointing at himself and raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. What happens when you release as much electricity as you can?"
"Oh uhh, I fry my brain..." Denki answered, looking a little bewildered that Sophia asked that.
"Uh-huh. But you can still release electricity without doing that right? Just at a much smaller amount?"
"Of course!" Denki replied, lifting his hand up and causing sparks to manifest between his fingertips.
"See Midoriya. You aren't the only one with a quirk that you can injure yourself with, you just need to learn to not always use it at maximum capacity, like Denki does here. Channel your quirk, control it, and only allow the tiniest bit out. That should keep you from breaking your limbs every damn time you use it." With those words, Sophia turned and walked back to the other students, leaving a confused Denki to follow behind her after a moment, not even giving Midoriya a chance to respond to her.
Standing there stunned, Izuku processed the girl's words. He was just about to use his quirk again and damage his arm, he didn't even think about trying to limit it to only a tiny amount.
"Midoriya. You ready?" Mr. Aizawa asked, causing Midoriya to break out of his thoughts and hurried answer with a, "Yes!"
He didn't feel ready, but he had taken long enough. So, closing his eyes, he imagined activating his quirk again, but this time he held back as much as he could, only allowing the tiniest bit of power to flow through his arm.
After a moment, he was ready. His arm felt strained, but he could move, and so he gripped the ball, and launched it, sending it much further than he had ever done before.
"80 Meters!" The robotic voice announced, showing that he had succeeded, and this time, looking down at his arm, Midoriya didn't injure himself.
'Sophia was right again, just what is her quirk?'
