My Swarm Academia: Call Of The Void

As the class settled into their seats, Kai hit on an idea, and had the changeling wrap itself around him. It placed its head on top of Kai's own. Now, Kai had the appearance of paying attention with his main body. A compromise with Iida, as it were.

The morning classes went without incident. But once the lunch bell rang, everyone paused at the door to meet up with Deku. They all wanted to know what Kai was like in the combat training.

"He's… incredible. But…" Deku trailed off, looking at Kai.

"Don't mind me, if you want to say I'm a crazy bastard, go ahead and do it," Kai said nonchalantly.

"I- I would never-" Deku stammered.

"Say I'm a bastard? But that's scientifically accurate." Kai chuckled. "They already know, they saw before while you were unconscious. Besides, I'll be showing them the supercut of yesterday's work anyways once a little bit more editing has been done. I think we've got a hit there."

"Supercut?" Ashido asked.

"Yeah, I recorded myself fighting with both Deku here and Bakago. Two angles, slow motion, lots of good stuff. I'm working on adding some music- oh, and a laugh track. It's a perfect demonstration of the Hierarchy of Power." Kai actually felt a little fl.u.s.tered. Everyone was still keeping close, even though he was there. Well, he was walking alongside Deku, their real target, so that was probably it.

"Hierarchy of Power?" Jiro asked, confused.

"Laugh track!?!" Bakugo demanded, furious. Then, as Kai made eye contact, he clicked his tongue and shut back up.

"It's just a way to classify power by its source." Kai tapped his foot on the floor as everyone walked toward the cafeteria. As the changeling came out of the floor, it took the form of Kai in a white lab coat and fused its hands together to make a small blackboard. As Kai continued talking, a pyramid diagram appeared and filled with words.

"The lowest grade of power is strength. It is the lowest grade because those with higher forms of power can easily defeat one who has strength alone. However, it is also fundamental, as without some measure of strength, one cannot proceed to the next level."

"Why are we getting a lecture? Class is over! It's time for lunch!" Kaminari complained.

"A question was asked, and a question will be answered. I said before that I would be a teacher. My lessons aren't scheduled outside of the juku, but I will happily answer questions. I could fast forward, if you want. Each level depends on the ones before it, but the higher ones are much more valuable pound for pound. So, to sum up, experience is better than skill, skill than intelligence, and intelligence than strength. There, lecture over." Kai dismissed the changeling.

"To answer the other question, yes, a laugh track. Bakago has only touched on intelligence, mostly ignores it, and thinks to beat me. I mean, if Deku could beat him with only theoretical knowledge of Bakago's style and some self-taught judo, how much easier for me to beat him Quirkless with ten years of combat experience and four of official training from MA3? How could it be anything but laughable?" Kai finished with a chuckle.

"How the hell- is there anything you can't do?" Sero asked.

"Predict the future, fly, play the flute, American football, crepes, the list goes on and on."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. Without special equipment, it is impossible to get a perfect crepe. You'll get things that are… lacking on presentation. Battle is more my specialty, but I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm no genius. I know combat well because of my mom. As long as I can remember, and I can remember being a three-year-old put through combat drills and mom linking my senses to martial masters so that I could feel what perfection was like. I've been chasing those feelings for years."

Kai sighed. Good times, good memories. Hard times, but still good.

"You sure like to talk big, don't you?" Bakugo said, still unbelieving. There was no way he really had that much life experience.

"Believe, or don't. I don't really care. The truth is mine." Kai replied. "At least what I say is backed up. You, on the other hand, are simply delusional. How strong were you?"

"Hey, Kacchan was the strongest one in our school!" Deku interjected.

Kai sighed and shook his head. "You know, that is really sad, Stockholm. It shows, too. I take down All Might in front of him with nothing but words, I beat him Quirkless both ways at the same time, and he still has the gall to believe he's something special, and that I'm lying about something. All because of some delusions fed to him since he was four.

"Worst of them all, he thinks he wants to be a hero. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad." Kai pretended to think for a moment. "You know what, I'll laugh anyways."

And laugh he did. Alone, as nobody understood or believed why.

"What are you talking about?" Deku asked.

"What the hell do you think you know about me?" Bakugo asked at the same time.

"What do you think I know?" Kai asked in return with a smile. "Keep in mind, I had you followed after the first day of school because I thought you might cause trouble. Even now, I'm going around town looking for your classmates, and I have a reliable source that has… illuminated me about how you were as a kid.

"Or rather, when you were younger. I can't say you've grown up at all. Still just a child who pretends that he is going to be a hero, when he has absolutely no idea what that even means. You're lying. Not to me. You are telling me what you believe is the truth. You are lying to yourself, which is far, far worse."

"What…" Deku trailed off, thinking about Kai and what he had said. "Why are you saying this? Why are you so harsh to him?"

From the past few days, he could be sure that Kai wasn't exactly a petty person. He frequently acknowledged, even announced, his faults. So why did he make a point to verbally assault Bakugo with every opportunity?

"I thought I was clear," Kai said with a mildly confused look. "I am in the business of making sure everyone survives the next six years. Even Bakago."

"But how does how you treat Kacchan do that? How does that help anything? Why six years?"

"Is this the time? We are kind of clogging the hall right now, Stockholm," Kai said, gesturing around.

The whole class had left the classroom for lunch as one unit, and had stopped, entertained by the constant drama that surrounded Kai, Deku, and Bakugo. They didn't know where things were going, but they really did want to know. They were almost at the cafeteria, but right now they didn't want food as much as they wanted answers.

Awkwardly, Deku moved into the cafeteria, not wanting to restrict anyone by a personal conversation.

"Good move, Stockholm. There are fudge cookies filled with chocolate pudding with our names on them. My treat, as per the request given to me."