Darrel liked sitting on the middle hump. From here, on the backseat, it let him look through the windshield and see the cars passing in front of their car as well as on the sides. His dad would usually tell him to move so he could see through the rear view, but not today. Today, Darrel’s father was taking him to his first day at UAI. 

Darrel still remembered getting the letter. His mother had rushed in, holding the open envelope in her hand. His father left his study to celebrate with them, and they had Darrell's favorite food for dinner, with many excited conversations between his parents about what it would be like. Darrel, however, had been mostly silent, “i don't know” being his main contribution to the conversations that night. He had never gone to school before, being homeschooled by his parents, let alone one as high profile as UAI. His feelings were jumbled.

“Hey” His father looked at him through the rear view mirror.

“Eyes up champ. We’re short enough as is'' he joked, with a rare smile. 

“If you keep looking up, people won't look down on you son. Remember that, you may need it today”. 

“He's going to be fine Dave” his mother turned from the passenger seat. Her fresh haircut bobbed as she turned, “just be yourself sweetie, they're gonna love you!”.

The harshly realist father and the overtly optimist mother, Darrel thought. I always did take more after dad.

---

The hallways were inexplicably clean, floors tinted a cool steel blue. Blue lockers were inset into each wall, some showed evidence of peeled off stickers. Darrel walked on the second floor, through a glass corridor. To his left, he saw a street-like pavilion, with benches and grassy fields beautifully laid into the ground. Beyond that, a more harsh stone wall, connected to a much larger building with huge towers that Darrel assumed was for hero training of some sort. There was nobody outside; not too many people inside, either. Darrel had asked to be dropped off an hour early, he didn't want to not be able to find his classroom.

But the building was smaller than he thought it would be, so he found his class relatively easily. The door was a standard classroom door, set into the wall like everything else. Next to it, a plaque read CLASS 1-A in embossed silver letters. “This is it I guess,” Darrel muttered. He leaned against the wall and looked around. The hallways were uniform, same lockers, same doors at regular intervals, windows at the far end of the hallway letting a surprising amount of natural light in. 

He considered taking out his Nintendo, but he didn't want to be caught, slacking? That's what his mother would always say when she caught him. As if on queue, he heard strong dedicated footsteps headed his way. He looked left, and a man in a fine green suit walked out a stairwell and into the corridor. Darrel recognized him immediately; Tripwire, the Monitor Hero. No, he corrected himself. Mr. Brian Gordon, the principal of UAI. and he was coming right towards Darrel. 

“Hello young man,” he closed the distance, extending a hand. 

Darrel shook it just like his father showed him. 

Mr. Gordon continued “You must be from the new hero course, correct?”. 

“Yes sir” Darrel stuttered, not sure where to put his hands. 

“Excellent, welcome to UA International. You're here quite early, but we've always had a few young upstarts who come long before the bell.” 

I'm always gonna come an hour early, Darrel promised himself. 

“Apologies, but I must be heading to the administration building. If you need anything, find me there, and I will be happy to assist.” With that, Tripwire continued on in his fast and dedicated pace. 

Darrel watched him go, slightly awed. Tripwire was a well known support hero, with a very strong quirk given the right,,, AH. Darrel shuddered, and looked around. Tripwire’s quirk, Oversight, allowed him to see everything in the places he'd been over the last hour or so. He was probably still aware of Darrel standing there, seeming a lot more awkward than he should. The idea disquieted him.

---

Darrel leaned against the wall by the door for a long time. He didn't want to sit down; while the floor was clean, something told him Mr. Gordon would not be pleased with that. Students had come and gone, looking for their classrooms, but none seemed to pay much attention to him. 

Darrel was studying the carpet when he felt a student stop before him. He looked up, and made a double take. It was that boy, the one with the blue skin and strange vibrating plates. The one who looked directly into Darrel’s eyes when he talked about quirks that lacked. 

His two-colored eyes were staring into Darrel’s now, too. 

Darrel looked down, left to the lockers, back at the boy. He seemed exactly the same as on examination day; UAI uniform, taller than him, more intimidating. His tie was perfectly folded; Darrel felt his was weak in comparison. Darrel reached out a nervous hand, unsure if hand-shaking was something people his age did as well. “Hello” He started, “I remember you from the examination room. I'm Darrel. What's your name?”. The boy stayed silent. Darrel was unsure of what to say next. Darrel looked to the floor. Eyes up, his fathers voice echoed, but Darrel ignored it. He knew the kid was still staring at him, and he wondered what kind of awkward defiance it would be to stare back. 

They stood there a while, more and more students now coursing through the halls, looking for classrooms. Eventually, a friendly hand grabbed Darrel’s shoulder. He turned, startled.

It was Ken.

“Hey!” Ken exclaimed, smiling wide. "Darrel! Its Ken, remember me? From the entrance exam!" Ken had his grey overcoat in his hand, with no apparent intention to put it on. A tall blonde boy stood behind him. 

"Remember, we took down a massive robot together?" Darrel managed a smile; Ken instantly lightened the intense atmosphere. 

"Oh hi! Ken!! Yeah ah,, thanks for that, by the way." Darrel was surprised that Ken asked if he remembered, Darrel was well aware that he wouldn’t be here without Ken. 

"Whaddya mean??" Ken talked widley with his hands, "it was a team effort! I would have never been able to pierce that giant without you there! Are you in this class? We must have the same homeroom! Oh hey, I want you to meet Thijs" Ken stepped aside, letting the tall blonde boy move forward. He extended a hand to Darrel, and introduced himself. Darrel thought his accent was- just slightly off.

"Do the thing!" Ken nudged Thijs, who raised an eyebrow. "Make one on your forehead, like before!" 

Ken turned to Darrel, "he can make wheels pop out of his body, it's wild, and kinda freaky." Thijs rubbed his head, laughing nervously. 

"This should be alright for now", he said, and turned his palm upwards. Instantaneously, a wheel shot up through the skin, simple metal with simple treads. 

Darrel was taken aback; what an odd quirk. 

Ken set his sights on the blue boy now "Hi! I'm Ken, What's your name?". The blue boy seemed like he might respond, when another student walked out from behind him. 

"Hi there, I'm Chimlin, you all are in class 1-A right?" Ken swiveled his enthusiasm to her instead 

"yep! Oh, I like your shoes!". Darrel followed Ken's gaze to her sneakers, which were colorful and bright, with what seemed to be little lightning bolt extensions on the sides of each.  

The girl placed her hands on her hips,  and smirked while leaning back, "Thanks man. I like your flower."

Ken's hands darted to his hair, feeling around,  eventually landing in a small white flower growing at the base of his ear. "Oh, sorry" he plucked it, and put it in his pocket. "Sometimes I miss a few." 

The Asian girl looked to the door, then at the blue boy, who was closest to the handle. "Is it open?". The boy turned towards Darrel, with a questioning glance. Oh man, Darrel blushed, I didn't check. The blue boy groaned and rolled his eyes, grabbing the handle and opening the door with ease before walking in. Chimlin followed him. 

Ken laughed. "Bro, how long have you been standing here?" Darrel’s shoes all of a sudden were very interesting. 

"About an hour," he stammered. Ken laughed again, though curiously Darrel realized it wasn't at him. 

A girl was making her way towards the door from where she was standing at the other end of the hall. Darrel couldn't remember how long she was there. As she grabbed the handle, she muttered a short greeting to the remaining boys by the door. Her hair waved oddly, the tips seeming to float upwards. Cinders cascaded from them, and Darrel wondered how her clothes didn't burn. 

"This year is gonna be wild" Ken beamed. "Come on, we better head inside as well." He and Thijs entered the door, Darrel following close behind.