The following months had been way too strange, even for Dante.
He had spent them training harder than normal, preparing for U.A., but that isn't what made things strange. It was him. Or rather, the other him.
First, he thought the figure in the mirror was a one time thing. A trick of the light. Maybe even his mind playing games with him. But it just didn't stop.
He'd see him in reflections, mirrors, windows and even puddles on the street. The younger version of himself. The one that hadn't grown up fighting to survive. The first Dante, the Dante that had a loving family, a home and a future that was stolen, by our Dante.
Sometimes, the kid just stood there, looking at him. Other times, he spoke.
"You are wasting my body."
"You don't belong in U.A."
"They are not your people."
"She wouldn't want this."
"They killed her."
The worst part? Dante could never answer.
He tried to ignore it. Drowning himself in training, in work and in pushing his body beyond what it could comprehend. But nothing ever changed. No matter how hard he punched or how fast he ran, he was still there. Watching him.
And now? He was here. He was standing in front of U.A. high school.
The massive gates loomed over him, the building itself looking almost unreal in the morning sun. Tons of students filed in, excited chatter filling the air.
Dante exhaled, adjusting the strap of his bag.
Then, he caught a bit of movement in the corner of his eye.
A shop window.
His reflection, in his new uniform.
And behind him, standing just below his shoulder—him.
Dante clenched his jaw, refusing to turn around. Instead, he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for his reflection to hear.
"I don't need you in my life."
The boy didn't respond, he just walked away.
But Dante knew it wasn't going to end just like that.
…
…
Dante adjusted the collar of his new uniform, which was barely buttoned up. The tie? Hell no he isn't wearing that. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his scarred forearms and his usual sharp gaze along with the thin scar cutting through his eyebrow and his long messy blonde hair all gave him the unmistakable air of a trouble maker.
Well the cute little antennae on his head did kinda ruin the whole delinquent vibe but yeah.
Dante made his way through the halls of U.A. once more, but now he could feel the stares. The whispers.
"Who is that?"
"I didn't see him in the entrance exam…"
"He looks scary."
"Wait, is he a villain?"
Dante just ignored them, but the reflection in the window showed the younger Dante walking alongside him, shaking his head as if to tell Dante "I told you so."
Dante just closed his eyes and kept walking. He had gotten used to being watched a long time ago.
Eventually, he spotted a familiar face standing outside a classroom door.
It was Izuku Midoriya.
The green haired boy was staring at the door, seemingly lost in thought. His foot tapped nervously against the floor and he was muttering to himself—a habit that Dante had nearly forgotten about.
Dante smirked and casually walked up beside him.
"Still talking to yourself, huh?"
Izuku jumped, turning to see Dante. His eyes widened.
"Dante! You—wait, you're in class 1-A?!"
"Well, duh?? I got special recommendation," Dante said throwing a tired arm over Izuku's shoulders. "Now! Stop freaking out and let's—"
Without waiting for an answer, Dante pushed the door open.
"—Go!"
The entire classroom fell silent.
All eyes turned to the door. Or rather, to him, or well Izuku.
Dante took a step inside, glancing around lazily as his antennae twitched. He saw some edgy kid with split coloured hair, some tall nerd with glasses, a short girl with what seemed to be earphone cables on her lobes and a familiar blonde guy with an explosive aura.
Wait. Blonde? Explosive?
Dante's smirk widened as his gaze landed on Bakugo.
"Oh shit," Bakugo muttered, immediately scowling. "W-What the hell are you doing here?!"
Dante just chuckled. "Hey hey"
Ignoring Bakugo's growing rage, Dante found an empty seat and dropped into it, resting his head on the desk.
More whispers started.
"Who is that?"
"Is he asleep?"
"Is he some kind of delinquent?"
Dante sighed. It was going to be a really long day, but hey, he was finally in school again. And maybe this time it would be different. Maybe—
Before he could even finish thinking, a low, disinterested voice cut through the classroom.
"…Took you all long enough to shut up."
Everyone turned their heads, some in confusion, others in surprise—just to spot a sleeping bag on the floor near the front of the room. It shifted, then slowly unzipped, revealing a man with tired eyes, messy black hair and a messy beard like he hadn't shaved in weeks.
Aizawa, also known as Eraser head, stood up with a weird half dead expression.
"I am your homeroom teacher. Name's Shouta Aizawa. It took you eight seconds to quiet down… that is not going to work in the hero world."
All students straightened up at that. Even Dante lifted his head slightly, though he didn't sit up straight.
"Head off the desk, Dante."
Dante clicked his tongue and lifted his head with a lazy groan. "Okay, fine."
Without missing a beat, Aizawa pulled out a gym uniform from his sleeping bag and held it up.
"Everyone put these on and head to the training field. We're doing a quirk assessment test."
Izuku blinked in confusion. "Wait—but what about orientation? Or the opening ceremony?"
Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "If you want to make it in the hero course, you don't have the time for pointless ceremonies."
With that, he turned around and headed out the door.
The students were still frozen in shock.
Then Aizawa's voice echoed from the hallway.
"Last one to the field gets expelled."
…
The whole class was now dressed in their U.A. gym uniforms, all standing in a somewhat neat line. Most looked tense, some even nervous as Aizawa stood infront of everyone with a deadpan expression.
"In junior high, you were always restricted by absurd rules like 'don't use your quirks.' Well, the world outside won't be so kind. So we're scrapping that nonsense."
He held up a softball.
"You, you're up first. What was your best throw in junior high?"
Bakugo stepped forward, smirking. "67 meters."
Aizawa tossed him the ball. "Try throwing it with your quirk."
Bakugo grinned wider. He walked into the circle, wound up and with an explosion behind his pitch, launched the ball into the sky. A moment later the device beeped in Aizawa's hand.
"705.2 meters."
The whole class gasped.
"Whoa!"
"Crazy!"
Dante cracked his knuckles, unimpressed. He was standing just behind Izuku, arms crossed.
Then he felt something strange on his shoulder.
"Why are we here… You gonna spend your time throwing balls when there is revenge we have to take?"
Dante saw the other him leaning on his shoulder, but he just brushed it off.
Aizawa looked around. "As you can see, you're free to use your quirks however you like—so long as it gets you results."
Then his eyes narrowed.
"But whoever ranks at the bottom of these tests… gets expelled."
"What?!" Several students shouted.
"That's no fair!" Someone added.
Aizawa didn't flinch. "Life's not fair. Hero's don't get to complain."
Dante gave a half grin, he didn't know how he felt right now. But he then leaned towards Izuku. "That's Aizawa all right."
The tests included a 50 meter dash, grip strength, side to side lunges, standing long jump, ball throw, seated toe touch, repeated side steps and an endurance run.
And well, Dante, for his part, was blowing away expectations.
50 meter dash? He didn't even use the sludge glide technique and just stuck to the ostrich leg technique and still outran Iida by a hair.
Grip strength? He formed hardened sludge around his hand to crush the device until it sparked and broke, forcing them to give him a better one.
Side jumps and long jump? His mobility with his sludge tendrils let him push off the ground with crazy amounts of force.
Ball throw? He created a dense, spike like tendril behind his arm and used it like a spring loaded catapult, launching the ball well over 600 meters. The class just stared in shock.
Even Aizawa couldn't hold back a chuckle. "What a strange application."
But then came Izuku's turn. He stepped into the circle, visibly tense.
Dante just watched silently. He knew Izuku didn't have a quirk, well not one he could use properly yet.
Izuku wound up and threw the ball… 43 meters.
Aizawa's hair rose, his eyes glowing red. Erasure active.
"If that's all you're got, you're done."
Izuku looked like his world was going to collapse.
Dante furrowed his brow, while little Dante just watched with his chin resting on his hands, "This is very boring, you know."
Dante muttered beneath his breath, loud enough for little Dante to hear, "Do I step in?"
"Hmm… Nah, he should be fine."
Then, Izuku took a deep breath.
He muttered something beneath his breath, then he hurled the ball with everything he had, channeling power into just the tip of his finger.
705.3 meters. Just 0.1 meters further than Bakugo.
Everyone froze. Aizawa blinked, then narrowed his eyes.
The damage to Izuku's finger was obvious, it was completely shattered.
Aizawa sighed. "All that to throw a ball? What would have happened if you needed to fight after?"
…
After all the tests…
The results were in. A hologram of the rankings appeared in the air.
Top 3:
1. Dante Graves
2. Momo Yaoyorozu
3. Shoto Todoroki
Dante just crossed his eyes and smiled. "Well… no surprise there."
Little Dante didn't even seem interested, just looking off into the distance.
Izuku was near the bottom, but not dead last. And well, Aizawa had faked the "expulsion" Thing just to motivate them, atleast for today.
As the class all relaxed and sighed in relief, Dante looked around for a moment.
He could clearly see the figure of little Dante, he was no longer looking into the distance.
Now he was just staring at him with quiet, sad eyes.
Dante turned away.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not interested in revenge right now. At this moment, I just want to live my life a little."